


The Heart of the Jungle

by Esselle



Series: Heart of the Jungle [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Jungle, Emotional, First Time, Inspired by Tarzan, Intimacy, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sexual Tension, Sexual exploration, Touch-Starved, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, learning experiences, trust building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-02 19:11:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 50,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10225145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esselle/pseuds/Esselle
Summary: 'When Hinata woke in the evening, he half expected to see the wild man mysteriously gone, as though he'd never been there in the first place.But instead, there he lay, fast asleep. Shafts of deep golden sunlight fell across the man's sleeping form, and Hinata stared at him, transfixed. He had long, dark lashes and a finely shaped, straight nose, and low cheekbones with a proud jawline, all of which started to fill out some sort of stereotypical profile for a rugged jungle king.If ever there had been someone created to survive the unforgiving landscape of the jungle, it was him.'--The rainforest expedition is to last a full year—365 days of living under the lush canopy of trees.Danger looms. Adventure awaits. The jungle calls. Hinata Shouyou has never wanted anything more.Or so he thinks, until he meets a curious stranger there, who shows him what it means to be truly needed.[words by Esselle, art by reallycorking.]





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple things before we start! First: (as some of you guessed) this story is loosely inspired by both the original _Tarzan_ novels, and the animated film. In keeping with that, there are some animals who serve as antagonists, and some (minor) violence is shown towards these animals in this story. Beyond that, there is a man in a loincloth in a jungle -- no other prior knowledge of the source material is required. (Also, my grasp of the field of Anthropology is tenuous, at best.)
> 
> Second: I would like to thank everyone who patiently waited and encouraged me throughout the many months of working on this story. In particular, I want to thank [Ellie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellessey/pseuds/Ellessey) for reading over every word of this and never letting me feel like this was an idea that wouldn't come together. And collabing with [RC](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/) and watching her bring this fic to life with her illustrations kept me going until I finally put the last word on the page (due to mobile constraints, I had to downsize the art on AO3 -- I'll include links in the end notes of each chapter). Tobio of the Jungle got done because of you guys <3
> 
> Last: if you _really_ want to immerse yourself, I've put together an ambient playlist of jungle sounds, which can be found on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/user/essellewrites/playlist/3e7xIWY3BjuUosLanPQd4a)  and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8RWissld6x8T7l6AhLBOgR0zNFKDV420). 
> 
> Now, let's get a little lost.

The tiny plane, buffeted by the winds and turbulence, lurched and rolled almost like the movement of a ship. One moment it would rise, and the next, fall, a victim to the air pockets. It had started to make its final descent back to the ground, through the dark of early morning. The sun was just due, over the horizon.

Hinata Shouyou could not appreciate the view, nor the proximity to the plane's final destination. He sat hunched in his seat, all his focus turned toward making sure his lunch stayed in his stomach, instead of ending up on the plane floor. He had a suspicion that he was fighting a losing battle.

A hand clapped down on his shoulder, and he squeaked, immediately regretting it. He put a hand to his mouth, and reached for the air sick bag with the other.

"Alright, Hinata?" asked a jovial voice. It belonged to Sawamura Daichi, the expedition leader. Hinata nodded vaguely, his stomach roiling.

"The flight seems—pretty bumpy," he said, voice high and strangled.

"Normal turbulence!" Daichi said, unconcerned.

"W-wasn't there a plane that crashed, once?" Hinata asked. "Making this same trip… no survivors…"

Daichi waved a hand. "That was twenty years ago. Technology was different, and it was the first expedition. We're fine!" Before Hinata could ask how he could be sure of that, Daichi pointed out the window next to him. "You don't want to miss the view as we're coming in!"

Hinata groaned in a mix of agreement and despair, opening the sick bag, just to be on the safe side. The other man laughed as he sat back in his seat.  

Then he forced himself to lean over, to look out the window at the land that would be his home for the next year. At that moment, the sun was just starting to rise into view, casting both light and shadow across the ground. When Hinata finally caught his first real glimpse of it, he gasped.

Outside and below, the world was green. Like jade or emerald, and shining just as bright in the new dawn, stretching out to the farthest reaches he could see.

Hinata crumpled the paper bag in his fist without realizing it, staring out through the window, excitement trickling through his veins.

"You're not sick anymore?" Daichi questioned him.

Hinata shook his head. "No," he said. "Not anymore." He couldn't be nervous, now.

The jungle was waiting.

*

Base camp was everything Hinata had dreamed it would be (and anything would have been a welcome change from the plane). It had been set up by the sandy banks of a rushing river, and though the area where the tents and research spaces had been set up was clear, the boundaries were met by towering trees on all sides, the canopy of the jungle rising tall above them, like a living wall. The calls of birds echoed through the early morning mist.

Breakfast was an excitable affair, as the team of researchers and scientists began to acclimate to their surroundings. Several were already discussing venturing out once the sun came out a little further.

Hinata couldn't wait that long.

As the sole anthropologist on the team, he decided against waiting for a group to form in favor of heading off on his own. They had all been provided with comprehensive maps of the area and thorough briefings of the local flora and fauna. During the day, the jungle was not only beautiful, it was quite safe—as long as he was careful.

He informed Daichi, who warned him to be back before dark, and then set off, with just his backpack and canteen, and a sketchbook readily in hand.

The jungle was quiet in the morning, lightened by the bird calls and the sounds of other diurnal animals. Hinata kept a close ear out for the chittering of the different types of primate species, the ones he had made the journey to study. The sketchbook he'd brought along just in case, but he wasn't expecting to catch many glimpses on his first day. Just a sense of where they had made their homes would be helpful, and for now, he was content to take in his surroundings— _their_ environment, to study that before looking to the creatures that lived there.

The sun climbed higher into the sky, and the humidity in the air rose steadily. The jungle was _hot,_ and though he'd known how the temperatures would get, experiencing it first hand was breathtaking. When the sun had moved directly overhead, he stopped to have his lunch, seated on a large rock near a stream he recognized from the map. He had traveled some miles from the camp by now, and was starting to think about heading back, when he saw it.

In the trees overhead, a tiny black shape stared out at him with large, shiny dark eyes. It was a baby howler monkey, seemingly off on its own. Hinata broke into a smile.

"Hey," he said softly, wanting to put it at ease. Very slowly, he reached for his sketchpad. "Hi, there. Wow, you're cute."

The monkey stared at him with its sad, downturned mouth, before scampering back along the tree limb. Hinata hopped to his feet, trying to keep it in view as he crammed everything hurriedly back into his backpack before following its retreating tail into the underbrush.

Howler monkeys were a somewhat elusive breed—non-aggressive toward each other and other animals, like humans, and a bit shy. They always looked, Hinata thought, rather unhappy, unless they were making their haunting, namesake screech, their mouths stretched wide in an almost ghostly visage.

He chased after it, careful to keep his footsteps light, climbing over fallen logs and under low hanging branches, slipping on mosses here and there. The monkey stayed always just ahead, occasionally stopping to stare back at him, like it had found a new friend it wanted to play with. This was fine with Hinata. He always liked it best when his work included play.

But he was so focused on keeping his eyes turned upward, into the trees, that he soon forgot to look down. And suddenly, just as he found himself right below the baby monkey, its black tail swishing above him, he lost his footing—and then, more than just slipping, he found himself tumbling, down, down, down a steep, mossy ravine, sliding on his rear until he landed, with a thump, at its base. He groaned. He looked about himself.

"Uh oh…" he said.

He had no idea where he was.

The ravine had fractured the tree growth above, creating a break in the canopy for light to filter through. Here, the forest became jungle, dark and dense. Hinata reached inside his backpack, searched around for the map, and came up empty. Frowning, he turned it upside down, dumping out the contents. The map was nowhere to be found. He thought back to the first moment he had seen the baby monkey, how rushed he'd been trying to get everything in his backpack to make sure he didn't lose its trail. He'd forgotten the map.

He groaned again. This was very not good.

Gingerly, he stood, wincing as he felt the aches from the fall. He looked down the path at the bottom of the ravine. There was no going up, so he'd just have to try and make it back the way he'd come. He hefted his pack onto his shoulder, and started marching forward.

Surprisingly, the plan proved to be a poor one. He managed to struggle his way up and out of the ravine after an hour or so of walking, finding a part of the hill that was on a gentler slope. This in itself was an exercise in frustration, as he kept slipping back down thanks to the damp mosses and lack of handholds. By the time he'd reached the top, he was exhausted. But he knew he needed to make it to camp before night fell.

"No big deal!" he said cheerfully, to the trees. "Plenty of time left!"

It turned out there was not, in fact, plenty of time left. Not nearly enough for how lost he'd found himself. The sky above him began to gradually darken, and as he crept along in the trees, he began to see the eyes of animals, shining out at him. Watching him.

He had to be close to camp, now, didn't he? He'd walked about the right distance. The moon was beginning to come out, the faint silvery light visible through the treetops.

But soon, even that began to dim. And then he heard, far away, but still low and full enough to feel in his bones, the purring of thunder, the warning of rain.

"Crap," Hinata whispered.

It started slowly at first, a gentle rainfall that slowly, but surely, turned into a deluge. Soon, he could barely see the ground in front of him, hands outstretched to keep from walking head on into a tree trunk. The evening had grown black, which only served to make the sudden flashes of lightning that raked across the sky that much more startling.

Now thoroughly frightened, desperate, fatigued, Hinata made his way blindly forward. It was so hard to see that he might have met his end without ever knowing it was upon him, save for the lightning that tore across the sky.

It revealed the attack seconds before it happened.

A dark, hulking creature sprang toward him and he saw it illuminated in the split second the world was lit up: black with yellow eyes, long fangs bared in a snarling mouth, claws discolored by the blood of past victims.

Too startled even to scream, he flung himself out of its path, just in time. The beast missed him, barely, landing to wheel about in a murky mud puddle some ways away from him. Its gleaming eyes tracked him, intelligent in their glare. One of its eyes had an old, large scar cutting vertically across it, making it appear even more ferocious.

Terrified, Hinata stared at it, his feet unwilling to budge. He knew he was dead, knew he couldn't fight this thing—but suddenly, someone appeared who could.

The jaguar, for Hinata could now see that was what it was, pounced again. But before it struck him, its massive paws stretching forward to take him down, something blocked its path, intercepted it. And then Hinata realized it was a _man,_ who avoided its claws to grapple with it, until he had actually pushed it off, flung it back into the mud.

Hinata gaped, mind racing. Had someone from the camp found him? But that was a ridiculous thought. The expedition team were scientists, hardy enough to live in the jungle, but not to war with it.

This man, whoever he was, was a warrior.

The jaguar shook itself to its feet, black coat splattered with mud. Furious at being deprived of a meal, it roared its disapproval, an angry coughing scream.

But the man drew himself up to his full height, tall and unafraid. He pounded his chest open-handed, and roared back at it. Then he dropped to a crouch, ready for its next attack.

The jaguar sprang at him, and he met it, dodging its gnashing fangs and swiping claws. When it rose on its hind legs to batter him, it was nearly as tall as he was. He fought it back, again and again, but in another lightning flash he lost his footing in the mud and it slashed him across the chest. Hinata's heart lodged in his throat at the man's bellow of pain, loud enough to be heard over the thunder.

But for all of the jaguar's ferocity, it was amazingly no match for the man, even after wounding him. It came at him again and again, and each time he fended it off, all the while landing more blows upon its head and sides, weakening the massive beast. A vicious strike on its ear seemed to rattle it for good and it shook its head, dazed. Its next lunge was sloppy, and the man caught it around the middle and threw it heavily to the ground where it stayed, sprawled on its side.

The man staggered to his feet, clearly fatigued as well. He clasped his hands together over his head, raising them into the air, poised to bring them smashing down upon the jaguar—perhaps on its ribs or its head, to finish it, once and for all. It looked up at him helplessly, ears back, wide yellow eyes gleaming in the dark out of its scarred black face.

Hinata threw himself forward, in between man and beast. "Don't!" he shouted.

The man froze, and Hinata, with his back to the jaguar, felt his heart thumping in his chest. He couldn't allow the man to kill the cat, not for acting as a predator would, when prey stumbled into its territory. It was Hinata's fault, not the wild animal's.

A low growl sounded from behind him, and he sucked in a breath, turning to see the jaguar rising slowly to its feet. The man took a threatening step forward.

But the cat, realizing defeat, turned and slunk off into the underbrush, blending into the shadows. Soon there was nothing left in its wake but the rain.

A hand landed heavily on Hinata's shoulder, and he spun, remembering too late the other potential danger he was faced with. He lost his footing in the slippery mud, falling heavily into a slimy puddle. Quick as the jaguar, the man went to all fours to press forward into Hinata's space, crouched over him, trapping him between his arms. Hinata shook, in something that was not quite fear, but close to it.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out. He didn't know what he was sorry for, except this man had fought off an enormous threat to save him, and been injured, and then deprived of a kill at Hinata's insistence—something he suddenly felt was quite against the laws of the wild jungle, to which this man obviously belonged.

Hinata could barely make anything of his form out in the dark—but he was tall and broad, powerfully built, and naked aside from a tiny loincloth tied around his waist. His hair was long, past his shoulders, bedraggled with the rain and fight he'd just endured.

Another streak of lightning lit the sky, and for just a second, Hinata caught a glimpse of deep, intense, _angry_ blue eyes, glaring out at him from beneath the inky black hair that had fallen over his face. Rainwater beaded and coursed down over a strong, sculpted chest that had been scored across with four bleeding, dripping red claw marks.

The man reached for him, and Hinata held his breath, motionless—

The sudden sound of shouting reached them, and then long sweeping beams of light crossed the ground near their feet. In an instant, the man had pulled back, recoiling from the light and noise before Hinata could say another word.

"Wait—" he started to say, putting out his hand, though he had no idea _why._ No reason to call out to the man, aside from the first stirrings of curiosity. This was something—someone—he'd never expected to find out here.

But the unfamiliar lights of civilization had scared the man away, and he disappeared back into the jungle like the jaguar.

"Hinata!" a voice yelled, and he turned to see Daichi, and several of the others. He shielded his eyes from the bright beams of their flashlights. They had come looking for him.

Many apologies and reassurances later that he was in one piece, they had made it back to camp. It was already quite late at night and after dinner, and washing up, everyone retired early. Hinata was no exception, feeling dead on his feet after the day's events. He expected to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but he didn't. Instead, he lay awake, exhausted but restless, unable to get the image of blue eyes and bloody claw marks out of his head.

When he finally fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning, it was with a half-formed, ill-advised, and dangerous plan in his head.

But it was a plan, nonetheless.

The next morning, Hinata woke early, early enough that no one else in the camp had yet stirred. It would be at least an hour before the sun began to rise, and he did not want anyone to see him leaving, or to follow him.

He packed heavier than he had the previous day, brought some carefully selected supplies along with extra food, water, even a change of clothes, and a new map that he vowed not to lose. Then he left a note, an apology and a plea not to come after him. It might seem like he didn't know what he was doing, and, truth be told, that was correct. But he rarely did, anyway, and this was something he had to do.

For all that he was one of the most promising young anthropologists in the country, Hinata was under no illusions that he was smart in other areas. His love of human nature and culture, past and present, had cultivated his skill in the subject, but in most other regards he was, he knew, rather stupid. What had never failed him, however, were his instincts—and though they were very good at getting him into trouble, they were just as capable of leading him right to where he needed to go. And so he trusted them.

Right now, they were practically shouting in his ear, urging him to go back, into the jungle, to seek out those things that most intrigued him. Something far more interesting than just the apes that swung from trees, though closely related, all the same.

His fellow man.

*

In the sun, below clear skies, the rainforest had reverted back to the peaceful, almost friendly state he'd found it in the morning before. After the night of rainfall, it appeared somehow even more lush and green than ever. It was hard to believe that hours before it had seemed so terrifying and hostile, so much so that he wondered if he had just imagined the whole thing, jaguar, wild man, and all.

But then, near the spot where he'd been discovered by the expedition team, he spied a red messy splatter on some palm fronds—blood, still not completely dried thanks to all the condensation in the air.

He wasn't an expert tracker by any means, but the broken branches and trail of blood were clear enough signs that something large and injured had been this way. He lost the trail several times, doubling back to pick it up once more, making sure to check his map at every turn. But then, he reached a spot where there could be no more trail to be found. It just ended, right smack at the base of a tree. Hinata stood under the branches, scratching his head.

"Weird," he said, softly.

A movement from above him got his attention, a rustling that made him look up. His eyes widened.

He was unable to move in time to get away, could only give a short, startled yell, as arms reached down, snatched him up into the air, and hauled him into the tree above.

He had found the wild man, or perhaps, more accurately, the wild man had found him.

The man swung easily from his upside down position, legs hooked over the tree, and Hinata yelped in sincere terror as the ground receded and he found himself being shifted into a one-armed hold, gripped tight around the waist. Somehow, the man didn't drop him. Even more incredibly, he managed to scale the tree while still keeping his grip on an entire other person, leaping higher into the branches with an effortless strength.

When they had reached one of the highest points of the tree branches, a dizzying distance from the ground, the man hoisted Hinata up again, this time against his back. Still frightened of being dropped, absolutely bewildered by what was happening, Hinata clung to him wordlessly, wrapping his legs around the man's waist, arms around his neck.

His silence was revoked when, without warning, the man took a running leap, and flung them both off the branch, out into nothing.

Hinata shut his eyes as he screeched, horrified, wondering _why—_ but after several long seconds, when they hadn't hit the ground, he opened them again.

The ground was falling away beneath them, rushing by at a dizzying pace. He looked up, and saw the cause. The man had grabbed hold of one of the many vines that hung from the tree canopy, using them to swing through the air at high speeds. Hinata couldn't help it—he let out a shout, of laughter, of amazement.

They weren't falling. They were _flying._

Like this, they were traversing the jungle so fast that Hinata realized they must be quickly leaving the designated expedition zone, rendering his map useless for the second time in as many days. He cringed, inwardly. There was nothing he could do about it now. Currently, he wasn't sure he cared. Not when what was happening was so much more exciting, and unknown.

Deeper and deeper into the jungle they ventured, the trees growing thicker around them, sunlight dappling through the branches. Here, it was darker even during the day, hushed and solemn. Hinata looked around in wonder at the richness of the place.

Suddenly, he spied something that did not appear to belong. Though it was made of wood and high up in a tree, it seemed constructed instead of naturally forming, and as they got closer, Hinata realized what it was.

It was crude, small, and a bit lopsided. But it was unmistakably a treehouse, lost among the highest reaches of the canopy.

Their journey ended here, in the lower branches that the man then ascended easily, scaling the trunk of the tree, into which hand and footholds seemed to have been hewn roughly out of the bark of an ancient, thick branch that wound its way below the little house like a base. They slipped in through a wide window—there was no door.

Once inside, Hinata unhooked his arms and fell with a soft thump to the floor of the treehouse. It was surprisingly sturdy, rough wooden planks with gaps here and there. If he squinted hard enough, there were places he could see through, to the forest floor below. He looked up, wondering what he could say, or should say, and so saw the exact moment when the man stumbled, and fell to the floor of the treehouse.

Hinata rushed forward, concerned, but as soon as he got near, the man flung out an arm, warding him off.

"Hey," Hinata said loudly, though the man didn't look at him. "Hey, don't just ignore me, you're—" He put his hand on the man's shoulder.

The reaction was violent and explosive. Before Hinata knew what was happening, the man had grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him around to toss him onto the floor. In a flash, Hinata was on his back, staring up into those hypnotizing blue eyes. His heart pounded in his chest as he stared up into the man's face, watching it contort in a snarl.

But as he stared, he realized that the man's eyes, though they were sharp and bright, were not wild.

Hinata raised his hands slowly, placatingly. The man loomed over him, breathing hard, chest heaving, and Hinata noticed something else. The wounds on his chest, the long scratch marks, were red around the edges of the torn skin, where the blood had congealed, but not entirely dried. He looked back into the man's eyes—the brightness there was too bright, glassy, the look in them pained, and his forehead was beaded with sweat. Hinata swore, and unthinkingly reached out, gently touching the tender skin on his chest.

The man was off him in seconds, scrambling backwards out of reach, looking at him with hurt, confused eyes. Hinata stood, hands outstretched.

"Sorry. You have an infection," he said. "The cuts. They're infected. Do you understand?"

The man didn't respond in any way except to shrink back further. He must have been extremely weakened by the journey through the jungle—of course he must, after the energy it took to travel the way he did, from the vines.

Hinata got to his knees and opened his backpack, laying some of the supplies he'd brought out on the floor. Among them were bandages, and antiseptic, which he was relieved he'd thought to pack. Very slowly, he approached the man, who didn't shy away from him again, though he continued to stare warily.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Hinata said, "but I need to clean your wounds, or this will just get worse. Okay?" The man didn't respond. There was probably no point in speaking to him, but it felt reassuring to Hinata to do so. He hoped it would have the same effect on the man. Carefully, he touched his hand to the man's forehead.

The man's eyes widened, as he went very, very still. His skin was hot to the touch with fever, and Hinata pressed more firmly against it, stroking his forehead, before carding gentle fingers into his hair. He smiled as blue eyes blinked closed, and the man's breathing began to calm.

"There you go," he said quietly. "You're okay. You'll be okay."

The closest approximation the man had to a bed was a large gathered pile of palm fronds, atop which what looked like animal furs had been thrown. Hinata thought he spied a jaguar pelt and wondered if the fight from the previous night was an ongoing one. When he took his hand from the man's face, the man opened his eyes, watching him. He looked, Hinata thought, a little reproachful.

"Don't give me that look," Hinata told him. "Come on." He held out his hand, and the man stared at it, cluelessly. Hinata sighed, and reached for one of his, pulling him up from the floor and over to the furs, directing him to lie down. He went to turn back to the supplies and found his hand still being held onto. "You've got to let go so I can do this," he said, tugging away until the man finally released him.

Gingerly, he set about cleaning the wounds with the water and antiseptic he'd brought. He knew little about any medical practices, but they'd all learned first aid in advance of the expedition. When he was satisfied with his work, he covered the clean skin in gauze, smiling at the man, who hadn't taken his eyes off Hinata once during the entire process.

"All done!" Hinata said. "You should rest now." He looked around the tiny treehouse contemplatively. He was definitely stuck here, for the time being.

Something brushed against his hand, and he looked down, to see fingers trailing over his palm, as the man reached tentatively for him again. Fascinated, Hinata let the man take his hand, watching as he intertwined their fingers together.

How did he know to do that, Hinata wondered. He couldn't speak, so who knew how long he'd been alone in this jungle. Yet something as complex as holding hands came naturally to him. Or maybe it was just the need for comfort, when he was hurt.

Hinata squeezed his hand and smiled at him again. The man didn't smile back, but his eyes remained fixed on Hinata's, hazier now, falling into sleep. Hinata put his free hand back on the man's forehead, brushing his fingers there from side to side.

"I'm Hinata," he said, pointlessly. "My name is Hinata."

The man's eyes slipped closed, and Hinata sighed, feeling a bit relieved—that the man would be okay, that Hinata had found him in time to help, that he seemed relatively harmless.

"…To…bio…"

Hinata's head snapped over to look at the man. But his eyes were still closed, and his breathing had evened out. He had already fallen asleep.

*

When Hinata woke in the evening, it was to the sun setting, the sounds of the jungle winding down for the night, and the unfortunate reality that came with sleeping upon a bed of roughly hewn tree branches.

He hadn't meant to fall asleep and had no recollection of ever setting his head down. Now he winced at the twinge in his back and sat up, glancing over toward the furs, half expecting to see the wild man already awake, perhaps already mysteriously gone, as though he'd never been there in the first place.

But instead, there he lay, fast asleep. Hinata scooted closer to the side of the bed, quiet so as not to wake him. The jungle sun, orangey-gold and vibrant, had just started to filter through the window-like openings that had been cut into the sides of the treehouse, and sneak in through the many tiny slats between the wooden branches that had been inexpertly trussed together with vines and palm branches. The effect made the entire treehouse seem to glow, sun motes dancing through the cracks in the floor and walls and ceiling.

Shafts of deep golden light fell across the man's sleeping form, and Hinata stared at him, transfixed. There was one beam illuminating his face, which was peaceful in slumber, somewhat obscured by his long hair falling over it. Hinata reached out and, after a hesitant second, brushed it off of the man's forehead with his fingers. He halted, a moment, hand outstretched. Staring. Then, almost like he were being compelled to do it, he quickly and quietly pulled his sketchbook from his backpack, opening to the first blank page.

At first, he worried the _skritch-skritch-skritch_ of his pencil on the paper would wake the man. He drew lightly, lines soft and thin on the page, glancing up often, to make sure he was getting the details correct.

With his features relaxed, finally, the man looked to be about the same age as him. This coincidence was surprising, but what was perhaps more so was… how strangely strong and beautiful he looked, lying there asleep and unaware. His face looked less serious, in sleep, and more serene. He had long, dark lashes and a finely shaped, straight nose, and low cheekbones with a proud jawline, all of which started to fill out some sort of stereotypical profile for a rugged jungle king.

Hinata almost considered adding a small crown to the drawing, atop his head, but just as quickly dismissed the idea. It seemed too silly, when the rest of the image was so honestly lovely. Hinata leaned forward over his sketchpad, drawing forgotten for the moment as he rested his chin in his hands, surveying the man.

If ever there had been someone created to survive the unforgiving landscape of the jungle, it was him. Or, Hinata wondered idly, maybe it was the jungle itself that had made him this way, caused him to adapt to it in some sort of pseudo-evolutionary jump, unlocking humanity's primal nature buried within him. He wished he had more knowledge of where the man came from, and how he'd ended up here.

Without thinking, Hinata touched his fingers to the man's broad shoulders, brushing them over his long arms. His biceps were firm to the touch, forearms sturdy, hands large. His palms and fingers were calloused—most likely from the vine swinging, but there had to be many other reasons Hinata as yet didn't even know about.

He traced the man's collarbone with his thumb, before trailing his fingers over his… _stunning_ pectorals, lightly sweeping his hand over what wasn't covered by the bandage he'd applied earlier, rock hard abdominal muscles that most film stars couldn't even keep, without copious amounts of fitness training. And yet, here was this man, who quite possibly didn't even know what a pushup was, clearly maintaining them with ease.

He had many faded scars across his body, which told Hinata a long story, one he'd like to study more carefully. But they spoke of many, many years spent among these trees, fighting against the natural dangers that made their homes under the canopy. Hinata lazily traced the old marks to the left of the man's navel, musing over them, at the incredible fact that this man was alive, through whatever he'd faced.

From an anthropological standpoint, he was something of a modern miracle, both in circumstance, and in physical fitness. From a societal standpoint, he was…

"Really hot," Hinata murmured. "Wow, you are gorgeous."

He raised his eyes to look at the man's face again, and found he was being watched.

Hinata sucked in a gasp, scrambling backwards clumsily, cheeks flooding with warmth. "You're awake! I didn't—I was just—I wasn't thinking and I—"  

The man watched him blankly, still silent, as he stammered out excuses that he soon realized were not being understood. Feeling like an idiot, he did the only thing he could think of, which was to sink to the floor, forehead touching the ground, more out of embarrassment than anything.

"I'm sorry," he said uselessly. "That was really—"

Something thumped lightly on top of his head, and he stopped speaking immediately. But then he felt fingers, ruffling his hair, and looked up, startled.

The man took his hand away from his hair, but kept it held out, stretching it towards Hinata insistently. After a moment, Hinata put his own hand in the man's much larger one. Very quickly, he found himself being pulled forward, until he was alongside the soft pile of the bed once again.

The man tugged on his hand, and Hinata let himself be positioned, as the man laid his hand back onto his stomach. He looked at Hinata expectantly. Hinata stared back. Slowly, he twitched his fingers, moving them in random patterns over the man's stomach, back over the old scars. When he flipped his hand over, brushing his knuckles lightly over the man's navel, his blue eyes started to drift closed again, sleepily.

"You like it!" Hinata exclaimed, delighted, then covered his mouth when the man's eyes fluttered open again, looking at him. "Sorry," he whispered, voice hushed.

He let the man doze for a little while longer—it was easy enough to stay occupied when Hinata could explore his torso by touch without feeling anxious about it. He wished he'd brought his measuring tape with him, now. It would be fascinating to compare the man's size and muscle density within the averages of the general population, to see if he really was as physically advanced as Hinata suspected.

After awhile, the sky outside started to dim, and Hinata's stomach gave a little gurgle, startling him out of his reverie. He closed his hand over the man's arm, hesitantly, not wanting to startle him. Then he remembered what had happened, right before they'd both ended up falling asleep.

"Tobio…?" he whispered, breath held. The man's eyes opened again, focusing on him in a bit of a daze, and Hinata exhaled with a _whoosh._ "You _do_ have a name," he said, excited. "That's your name, isn't it?"

The man stared at him for a long time, before his lips parted slowly. Hinata leaned forward, excited, and caught the soft mumble, again: "Tobio."

Hinata nodded at him. "Yes." He pointed at Tobio. "You. Tobio." He pointed at himself. "Me. Hinata." To emphasize, he took the man's hand in his own, seized his pointer finger, and pulled, until he could press it against the center of his chest. _"Hinata."_

He stayed like that, frozen, until the man—Tobio—said, "Hi—nata."

Hinata clutched at his hand. "Yes! Good!"

Tobio continued to stare at him, and Hinata realized that nothing much else would happen with this sudden revelation—the man wasn't suddenly going to begin speaking fluently. He placed Tobio's hand back at his side, sheepishly, and said, "Well—we should eat!"

He had brought food for a few days' journey along with him, nothing that needed to be cooked or prepared, and he began to pull it out of his pack, now, to inspect what he had. It was growing dimmer by the second, so he also produced a small flashlight, but he'd barely turned it on before he found it being snatched out of his hands.

Tobio frowned heavily at it, turning it over in his hands, grunting when he accidentally shined it into his face. He turned it on Hinata, next, who shielded his eyes, watching in amusement as Tobio inspected the new object.

"Flashlight," Hinata said, and Tobio looked up at him. Hinata pointed at the torch. "That's a flashlight." He reached over, pressing the button at its base to turn it off, and then back on. Tobio's mouth fell open, and Hinata smiled.

While Tobio was occupied with the flashlight, he sorted through the food, squinting in the low lighting. Eventually, he had two even portions of dried fruit and jerky, two packages of nuts, and water for both of them.

"Hey," he said, trying to get Tobio's attention back on him. When he was ignored in favor of the flashlight, which Tobio was now rapidly turning off and back on with no signs of stopping, he said, louder, _"Tobio._ " Instantly, the man's attention snapped back to him. "Here," Hinata said, passing him his share of dinner. Tobio looked down at the items next to him on the bed. "It's food."

"...F…ood?" Tobio asked, as though he were testing the word out on his tongue.

"You eat it," Hinata explained. He popped a piece of fruit in his mouth. "Eat." He received not much in the way of a response, other than an expression that looked vaguely suspicious from the other man. Hinata shook his head and held up another piece of fruit to Tobio's lips, and one to his own. "Tobio. Eat."

He opened his mouth, and Tobio warily copied him, enough for Hinata to put the fruit on his tongue. He chewed, and watched Tobio follow suit. After chewing in silence for a bit, Tobio swallowed. Hinata waited expectantly for a reaction.

"Food," Tobio repeated, and then, louder, and more excited, "FOOD."

Hinata nodded happily. "Good, right?" The food wasn't spectacular, by any means, but it must have been extremely _different_ to Tobio, if nothing else.

"Good?" Tobio asked.

Hinata shoved a handful of fruit in his mouth and gave him two thumbs up. "Good!"

He nearly choked when Tobio imitated him, two thumbs in the air with his same serious expression, unchanging. "Good."

The dark-haired man practically inhaled the rest of the meal, finishing well before Hinata, who wasn't a slow eater by any means. He picked up the flashlight again to fiddle with it some more, until Hinata finally pulled it away from him, worried about the batteries dying. After dinner, Hinata checked his bandages, deeming them good until the morning.

"You should go back to sleep," he told Tobio, pushing on one of the man's solid shoulders to get him to lay down fully. "Rest."

But just like earlier that day, Tobio wouldn't follow instructions until Hinata wound their fingers together at his insistence, once again.

"Hinata," he said abruptly, fingers nudging at Hinata's wrist. "Hinata."

Hinata took his hand, squeezing it a little bit. "How am I supposed to sleep if I've got to hold your hand the whole time?" he asked Tobio, though he could hear the fondness in his own voice. He was absolutely a pushover, he knew. Tobio didn't respond. He had relaxed the instant he felt Hinata's touch, starting to fall back into sleep, dark lashes lowering.

"Good," Tobio said, very quietly.

It was, admittedly, very hard not to be a pushover in the face of that.

Just for tonight, then, Hinata reasoned. There were probably other things he should be telling himself—he needed to see how long his water supplies would last, he needed to figure out a way back to camp, he needed to decide what his plan was in even coming here.

He waved these worries off, laying his head down against the soft bed of palm leaves. Tomorrow. He could figure all that out tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RC's chapter one art can be viewed in full [right here](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/post/158278022689/the-heart-of-the-jungle-chapter-1-by-esselley)!
> 
> Things will start to ramp up after this chapter, which is the shortest and slowest of the lot. Will be updating weekly -- see you next Saturday!
> 
> [I'm [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Quick note here...
> 
> This story is heavy on some fantastical elements -- most humans aren't out there winning fights against jaguars, or surviving in the jungle alone from the age of, like, 5 or 6. Tobio is special. This, uh, includes his dick. If you ever meet a hot guy in the jungle IRL, I would heavily advise against partaking in any activities of a sexual nature. Lucky for Hinata, this story is fiction and that advice doesn't apply to him >_>;
> 
> That's everything!

When Hinata woke, faced smashed into the furs on the bed, back aching, his hand was still clutched in Tobio's grasp. His fingers were slightly asleep and his palm was sweating quite a bit.

Still, he lay there for a little while longer, listening to the sounds of the jungle rising with the sun. It was somehow even more intimate here than back in the camp. There they had likely disturbed much of the surrounding animal life with their arrival; there was no way to get around that. But here, in the treehouse, he was high up in the trees, where much of the native rainforest life had made its home. Somehow, it made him feel more like a part of that world.

Slowly, with much wriggling and pausing, so as not to wake Tobio, Hinata managed to free his hand. With Tobio still fast asleep, he decided to look around the treehouse.

In point of fact, there was not all that much to see. There were a few scattered tools near the walls that must have been made by hand, some rocks that were almost perfectly circular and smooth that the man seemed to have been collecting… and in one corner, a small pile of things that had not come from the jungle.

Hinata crouched down to sift through them. There were things like coin money, newspaper pages, some old photographs. These had been kept weighted to the floor by a small carved wooden statue: an elephant figurine.

He picked up the statue to see that it was quite old, but obviously cared for. It seemed to have once had painted features; eyes, a nose, and a smiling mouth below its trunk. But they'd been nearly worn off. The wood, however, was shiny, like it had been polished regularly. He glanced at Tobio, before setting the elephant carving aside, to pick up one of the faded pictures. This, too, was completely free of dust. It was a picture of a large group of people, taken some years prior, it seemed. They stood in front of an aircraft, the fashion of their clothes dated.

At the edge of the group, he noticed a woman and man, standing together. The man held in his arms a very young, dark-haired boy, catching Hinata's eye as the only child in the group. He turned the photo over in his hands and noticed, on the back in the bottom left corner, a very hard to read scrawl. A date.

A month, day, and year he recognized.

He sucked in a breath, turning the photograph back over to stare at the family on the front, the little boy wrapped up in his father's embrace. The photograph would have been taken nearly twenty years earlier.

Nearly twenty years ago, an expedition much like Hinata's group had been sent out into this part of the world—but after the plane had crashed, the wreckage, along with any survivors, had never been found. Eventually, they had all been deemed casualties of the accident.

Hinata stared at the dark-haired child, then looked back toward the bed, where Tobio was lying.

It would seem that one member of that expedition had survived, after all.

Hinata tried to wrap his head around this new fact. Tobio looked to be around his age, which would have made him painfully young at the time of the crash. Yet he'd made it, all this time, with no one to look after him. No one to help him.

Hinata wasn't a stranger to loneliness. For a long time, he had been by himself. He had never known his father, and his mother, whom he'd been close to all his life growing up, had passed away when he had barely entered college. From that point on, he'd been alone—though not _truly,_ surrounded by work and colleagues who shared his interest, the city and university and all the noise and bustle that came with those things.

He couldn't imagine what Tobio must have gone through. What it must have been like for a child to lose his family, his entire way of life, to face the unforgiving jungle by himself. But even more shocking was the fact that Tobio had survived it, for so long. He stared between the small boy in the photograph and the man that child had become, and though the frowning brows and mouth that tended to turn down at the corners were the same in both faces, Hinata still could scarcely believe it.

Presently, the man in question appeared to be stirring out of sleep. Tobio had begun to blink himself awake, and Hinata was pleased to observe him pushing himself up to a sitting position, after how weak he'd seemed the day before.

"Good morning!" he said cheerfully and Tobio turned to face him, rearranging himself slowly, wary of his wound, so he could stare more easily.

"Hinata," he said.

"You remembered!" Hinata exclaimed. That was somewhat amazing, given the man's inexperience with language. But then, if Tobio really was the boy in the picture—and Hinata almost couldn't imagine how he might be anyone else—he must have, at one time, been able to converse with other people. Tobio was watching him quite expectantly, and so he said, "How about breakfast?"

Tobio tilted his head. "Br…"

"Breakfast," Hinata repeated. He would need to start doing this a lot, if he wanted Tobio to pick anything up. For the first time in his life, he wished he'd paid more attention in one of the few linguistic anthropology courses he'd taken. "Breakfast is food."

Tobio's eyes lit up at the word he recognized. "Food good."

"Food _is_ good," Hinata said, as much an affirmation as a correction. He sorted out their food again, but as he passed Tobio his share, he noticed how warm his hand was, still. Tobio ate quietly, eyes fixed on Hinata. His expression now was unprotesting and calm as Hinata felt his forehead for his temperature once again. His fever had gone down quite a bit, Hinata was pleased to find, though the other man was still warm.

Suddenly, Tobio reached for him, catching Hinata off guard. He startled at the quick movement, nearly toppling backward, and the dried fruit mix he'd been about to eat spilled from its little plastic bag. But Tobio caught his arm before he could fall over completely, pulling him back, and Hinata looked at him, wide-eyed and frozen, as the other man pressed a hot palm against his forehead.

"What are we doing?" Hinata asked slowly, but quieted again when Tobio brushed his big hand over his face. His rough palm was almost unfathomably gentle as it smoothed down over Hinata's forehead, brushed the slope of his nose and skimmed off the upturned end.

Hinata didn't dare move as Tobio put out his other hand. He put his palms against Hinata's face, holding it carefully. Hinata made a noise of confusion as Tobio pulled his cheeks back taut, stretching his lips almost painfully, before squashing them together, so his lips were puffed out and pursed.

"What…" he tried to say again, though it came out muffled.

Tobio leaned in much, much closer to peer directly into Hinata's face. He relaxed his hold, but brought his thumbs up—to rub them over the ridges of Hinata's brow, and Hinata shut his eyes as he continued tracing downward, softly over his eyelids and then over his cheekbones. Tobio touched his philtrum, the little groove above his upper lip, before pressing one thumb to the center of his mouth. And held it there. Hinata opened his eyes again.

Tobio was staring at his lips. The wild man had been watching him since the moment they'd first sighted one another, but this was a different kind of stare, entirely unguarded, so open and filled with wonder that it made Hinata's heart ache, made him blush and want to look away. He didn't. Tobio swept his thumb fully over his bottom lip and then traced the top, before raising his eyes once more so that the two of their gazes met. He said, again:

"Hinata."

After a dazed moment, Hinata remembered to nod. Tobio let go of his face, but before Hinata could gather himself or make any further movements, the other man took his hands, lifted them and pulled Hinata just a little closer. He placed Hinata's hands, now, on his own face, and looked at Hinata expectantly.

Hesitantly, Hinata imitated him. He brushed his thumbs over Tobio's brows, over his lids when Tobio shut them, his cheekbones, and then finally, his mouth. Tobio's lips were full and firm, a little chapped from the fever, but with all the moisture in the air, it was barely noticeable. Hinata ran his thumb over the shape of each, and murmured, "Tobio."

Tobio stretched out one hand, and Hinata didn't jump or pull away, this time, when the man splayed his fingers across his chest, over his heart. His hand was warm, even through the cotton of Hinata's shirt. Again, Hinata imitated him, and felt his heart beating below his skin. Tobio's heartbeat was slow and strong, but Hinata could feel his own racing.

Tobio frowned, sensing the difference, but Hinata said, "It's okay. Good. We're the same." Tobio cocked his head in confusion.  _"Human_. We're humans."

Tobio still looked very confused, and Hinata thought of something, that made him twist and turn around, causing Tobio to pull away from him. Hinata grabbed the straps of his pack to haul it over, rifling through it until he turned up his metallic water canteen. The silver surface, though a bit warped, was shiny and reflective enough to act as a mirror, and he held it up, right in front of Tobio's face.

Slowly, Tobio took the canteen from Hinata's fingers. He brought it closer to his own eyes, staring at it gravely. Then he raised a hand, and touched his fingers to his face, all the while watching his mirrored movements.

"You," Hinata said. "Tobio. That's you."

"Hu…" Tobio made a series of expressions into the mirror, before getting it out fully. "Human."

"Yes." Hinata nodded at him. Hesitantly, he reached out, to press lightly on Tobio's chest again. "You." Then he put his other hand over his own heart. "And me."

Tobio raised a warm hand to cover Hinata's, where it rested on his broad chest. "Good," he said, and something about his voice seemed utterly peaceful.

Hinata thought about the photo the man had kept safe all these years, all those people in the photograph who Tobio thought might have seemed familiar, somehow. A mother and a father he probably barely remembered. Perhaps Tobio had wondered, all this time. Perhaps Hinata had finally put that particular mystery to rest.

He smiled at Tobio, and said, "Good."

*

It was incredible, just how fast time seemed to pass so deep in the jungle, with no one but the birds, the monkeys, and one stunningly attractive wild man for company. The next few days saw Tobio improving at a high rate, both in health, and in picking up speech.

He remained very tactile, and Hinata soon found himself growing accustomed to being grabbed at random and inspected—sometimes caught by the arm as Tobio stretched it out away from him, once to sniff at his armpit, before Hinata batted him away in embarrassment. Sometimes he'd grab Hinata by the leg, the first instance being when Hinata had removed his shoes the second full day up in the treehouse. He'd managed to finish his entire breakfast before Tobio had even started his, because he was too fascinated by Hinata's toes to eat.

Most of all, though, it was Hinata's face he tended to focus on. He was also fascinated by Hinata's hair. Tobio spent a lot of time combing through it with his fingers, which was… quite nice, actually, even if it occasionally made Hinata feel slightly like an orangutan. But sometimes, he could be very unaware of his own strength.

One of the first words Hinata taught him ended up being "gentle", after Tobio yanked him by the hair so hard and enthusiastically that Hinata's brain practically rattled inside of his head.

"No," he said, as sternly as he could muster, hands clutching his head, eyes watering after Tobio had nearly torn a clump of his hair out trying to get a look at his face. "That _hurts,_ Tobio. No more."

Tobio stared at him, eyes wide. "No?"

Hinata sat down hard on the floor in front of him. Without preamble, he reached out, and tugged at Tobio's long hair. Tobio winced and jerked away, looking at him in shock. Hinata pointed at his own head.

"See?" he said. "Not good."

Tobio nodded his head fervently. Hinata reached out and he flinched, but then calmed, when Hinata began to run his fingers softly through his hair.

"Good," Tobio said.

"Mmm," Hinata agreed. "Gentle. You try."

He tilted his head and Tobio put his hand out. Hesitantly, he imitated Hinata, touch slow and careful now.

"Gen…tle…" he said. "Hinata like?"

Hinata nodded, eyes closing. "Hinata does like it, yep. He does _not_ like having his hair pulled out." He opened his eyes again when he felt fingertips under his chin as his face was tilted up.

Tobio scooted closer to him, their knees touching where they sat. He peered intently into Hinata's face, before he pressed his fingertips right below one of his eyes, drawing back to show Hinata.

"Wet?"

"Oh," Hinata said. "That's…" He must have blinked out a couple tears. "I was crying… but I'm fine, it was just a…" Reaction to external stimuli—pain. There was no way Tobio would understand that. "I'm not sad or anything."

"Sad?" Tobio repeated.

"Sad is… when this part of you feels heavy. Inside." Hinata touched Tobio's chest. "Not good."

Tobio's hands dropped to his lap. "Tobio make Hinata sad."

Hinata's mouth fell open. "Ah! No, no—that's not…"

The other man looked miserable, suddenly. In fact…

"Okay, now you're sad… about making me sad," Hinata said. "Tobio, no. Look." He smiled up at the other man. "This is happy. You… actually make me really happy. I'm glad I met you."

For some reason, the wild man seemed to have a much harder time smiling than he did frowning. He stared at Hinata's face, ever serious. "Happy?"

"Yeees," Hinata needled, poking him in the cheek for good measure. "That's good!"

The frown smoothed out. "Good."

Tobio knew "good" very well by now, but Hinata wasn't sure it meant he understood happy.

"Food makes me happy. Drawing makes me happy!" Hinata said, smiling up at Tobio. He held his hands up and Tobio pressed their palms together, sliding his fingers between Hinata's, as fascinated by the sight as ever. "Tobio makes me happy," Hinata repeated.

Tobio looked up at Hinata, mouth open in a little "O" of comprehension. "Good."

"You get it now, right?" Hinata asked eagerly, shaking their hands and making Tobio's arms wobble. Tobio mimicked him, and Hinata laughed. "What are some things that make you happy?"  

Tobio considered, face defaulting to a frown. "Hinata."

Hinata grinned. "Thanks!"

"Flashlight," Tobio added to the list.

"Saw that coming."

Tobio thought some more. His eyes roamed around the interior of the treehouse, perhaps trying to pinpoint another item, and Hinata wondered if he would talk about his old photographs or perhaps the elephant carving. But Tobio's expression softened, brows lifting, as he turned in place to look about himself.

He released Hinata's hands, spreading his arms out to encompass the space. "Here."

Hinata nodded, understanding. "Ah…"

"Word?" Tobio asked him.

 _"Home,_ " Hinata said, and Tobio blinked contemplatively over this new word.

"Home…" he repeated, mouth turning over the sound.

Hinata nodded. "This place is your home."

He felt a new and strange gladness. Tobio might not know any place else, but it was clear he didn't just survive in the jungle. He had made a life for himself there.

Hinata wondered if he would still be able to do that somewhere else, or if the world at large was still too big for him. Right now, it seemed more cruel than kind to take Tobio away from the jungle he loved. But there was no way to ask him about that yet.

For now, the topic would have to pass.

"You always seem so angry, though," Hinata told him.

"Angry…"

"Uh-huh. Angry is like this!" Hinata said, and then scowled furiously.

Tobio blinked at him, and then covered Hinata's face with his hand. "Hinata, no."

"What does that mean?!"

The rest of the afternoon was devoted to teaching Tobio the different types of emotions, and like this, they passed the time.

Other days they managed to entertain themselves separately. Tobio, as could be expected, was able to occupy himself for long periods, though Hinata proved a frequent distraction for him. He also seemed to be gaining frustration at being unable to move around much, but was mostly understanding of his own need to rest. So he spent much of his time sleeping, or playing with some of the items from Hinata's pack (namely, the flashlight). And while he did this, Hinata would draw him.

Hinata's sketches came quicker, and quicker. He was unused to drawing portraits; most of his pictures of humans (or animals) were done to study the similarities and differences in musculature. Which he had done plenty of—there were several sketch pages he'd filled with nothing but different angles of Tobio's abdomen. And his pecs. And his biceps. And the amount of time Hinata spent staring at these was purely to further his own understanding of the human form.

But it was the expressions he paid attention to the most.

One rainy afternoon, Hinata sat contemplating his sketchpad. But for the sound of distant thunder, the day had been quiet and lazy. He and Tobio had been similarly so, comfortably engrossed in their own activities. On the paper, under Hinata's fingers, a picture had nearly emerged, of his new and mostly oblivious subject.

He'd already penciled in the sturdy build of Tobio's stomach, his muscled arms and broad shoulders. The defined line of his collarbone, and then his chest, with the nearly healed scars, given by the jaguar. Those, Hinata had paid careful attention to, four dark and messy lines marring Tobio's skin over his heart, carrying over onto his arm. Scars formed from the wounds that could have killed him, what he'd risked to save Hinata's life.

He'd also captured the proud jawline, the way Tobio's hair framed his face and brushed over his forehead, a little messy and surprisingly soft. He just needed Tobio to do one thing for him.

"Tobio," he said, tapping at his sketchpad with his pencil. He didn't want to startle Tobio out of what he was occupied with, and risk the portrait no longer looking natural. He wanted to capture Tobio's likeness as it was. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Tobio break," the other man said, brows furrowing. He had disassembled the flashlight, seemingly by accident, and was now staring at all the different parts, the battery and springs and lens, with a resolute frown.

"It's not broken," Hinata said. "You have to put it back together."

"Back?" Tobio asked. "Put back?"

"Yeah," Hinata said. "I'll teach you."

Tobio finally looked up at him. "Teach… Tobio."

_Curious._

That's what this expression was, Hinata thought, as he looked back at Tobio—caught, just a little bit, by the intensity of that stare. But it wasn't entirely like the searching, piercing way Tobio had looked at him the night they'd first met. It had softened, into something familiar, it seemed to Hinata. Something trusting and hopeful.

"Perfect," Hinata murmured, after he'd stared back at Tobio long enough to commit it to memory for his fingers to put on paper.

"Hinata," Tobio prompted, "teach?"

"In a…" Hinata said absently, "in a moment."

It didn't take long to finish the sketch. First the eyes, inquisitive and intent. The quirked brows, and the handsome, straight nose. And lastly, the mouth. As serious as ever, lips almost parted, on the verge of speaking, wanting to learn.

Hinata put down his pencil and surveyed the drawing for a moment. Then he turned it towards Tobio, so he could see. The other man's eyes went wide.

"Me," he said.

Hinata grinned. "Yup. You're like a real model, you never smile."

Tobio blinked at him. "Smile?"

It took a very long while for Hinata to see Tobio smile for the first time. But when he finally did, it changed everything.

Tobio wasn't the only one guilty of being liable to sudden bouts of touching. Hinata did the same thing, almost without realizing it. It became even harder not to, as Tobio's wounds healed and his fever faded completely, and he became more and more active.

Hinata would trail his fingers down Tobio's arms, or across his chest, or over his back, fascinated by the smooth threading of muscle under the skin, only catching himself when the other man's eyes started to flutter sleepily, trancelike. Tobio never seemed to mind, and it became another good teaching opportunity—as he learned the words for different parts of the body, intently focused on getting it right when Hinata "quizzed" him, pointing to them while Tobio guessed (or more often, stared blankly… but it was a start).

It wasn't _wholly_ surprising, then, when Tobio began to touch him the same way.

Whenever he would take hold of Hinata's hand or foot, instead of just holding it like some sort of museum artifact, he began to run his fingers over Hinata's skin, thumb brushing warm against it. Then, as if realizing what he was doing, he would look up at Hinata, a question in his gaze.

Hinata didn't stop him. He would nod encouragingly, and Tobio only got bolder, and bolder, hands creeping higher, from his wrist, to the inside of his elbow, and then to brush under the short sleeves of his shirt. Fingers tickling under the hem of his pant leg. It was all completely innocent. Tobio was just curious and he deserved a chance to learn.

"That's my…" Hinata murmured, as Tobio lifted his foot, palm braced against the sole. Tobio bent his head low, unintentionally pulling Hinata closer to him across the floor of the treehouse. He raised it up in the air high enough that it was practically at eye level, and Hinata had to lean back on his elbows to keep his balance. Tobio's breath puffed warm over the top of his foot, and Hinata shivered. It felt funny, tickled just the slightest bit.

"Ankle," Tobio responded, poking at it.

"Yep," Hinata said. Tobio suddenly pressed his nose right against Hinata's toes, without warning, and Hinata yelped. "What—"

"Eat," Tobio said.

"Tobio!" Hinata exclaimed, wiggling his foot in Tobio's grasp. Was Tobio, in fact, a cannibal? His fears were only heightened when Tobio ran his tongue briefly over the bottom of his foot. Hinata squealed in shock.

Tobio made a face, and didn't attempt to lick his foot again. But he kept nosing against it, which wasn't much better. Hinata writhed and flailed, caught in his grasp.

"Stop," Tobio said, as though Hinata was the one at fault.

 _"You_ stop!" Hinata gasped. "That ti-tick—that _tickles_ , Tobio, ah—!"

He collapsed onto the floor, breath heaving from his lungs as he laughed uncontrollably. Tobio let go of his foot, but before he could catch his breath, he found himself drawing it in again, as the other man suddenly pulled himself right over him, hands braced on either side of Hinata's head. Hinata looked up at him, wide-eyed. Tobio's long, dark hair framed his face softly, brushed Hinata's cheek when he moved his head. He was very, very close, eyes intense as his stare bored into Hinata's.

"Mouth," Tobio said.

"What?" Hinata asked, voice breathless even to his own ears.

Tobio leaned back slightly onto his knees and touched his fingers to Hinata's lips. He trailed them out to the corners, and upon reaching them, tugged them both up at the ends, into a…

"Smile?" Hinata asked. Tobio knew that word already, though, and then realization dawned: "Laugh?" Tobio cocked his head. "Like this?"

Hinata gave a big, exaggerated laugh, and Tobio jumped, startled. But then he was suddenly pressing closer, face very near to Hinata's own, their noses almost touching—

"HAHA!" Tobio shouted, and Hinata gaped at him. Tobio said, by way of explanation: "Laugh."

Before Hinata could help it, he was giggling again. When Tobio proceeded to look confused, he said, "It works better if you aren't _trying_ to do it…" He got an idea. "Maybe _you're_ ticklish!"

Exuberantly, he began to dig his fingers into the firm muscles of Tobio's sides and stomach, trying to find anywhere that might provoke the same reaction out of him. It didn't work. Instead, Tobio stared down at him, face stony, and little by little, Hinata's fervor died away until he slowly pulled his hands back with a nervous chuckle.

"Okay…" he said. "Maybe you're not."

Tobio's expression didn't change for at least a full five seconds, mouth a straight line, eyes unamused.

And then, his lips twitched.

The movement was fast, and very small. But Hinata had been watching for it.

"You smiled," he said. And then, louder, "You _just_ smiled! Don't act like—"

Tobio put one of his big hands on Hinata's chest, trailing it down the front of his shirt, before settling it low on his stomach. Hinata's voice caught up in his throat as Tobio leaned in, and murmured, "...Hinata, laugh."

He started to tickle Hinata mercilessly, until Hinata was panting, begging him to stop, though he didn't _quite_ mind. Gradually, Tobio eased up on him a little bit at a time, until he was just barely brushing his fingers over Hinata's torso, and Hinata could take a moment to breathe.

A finger brushed his eyelashes, coming away wet, and when he blinked up at Tobio, he saw the other man was staring at it in concern. Hinata reached up to take his hand.

"Not sad," he reassured him.

Tobio looked at him with his eyes bright, his lips pulling up just slightly at the corners, and Hinata realized he was laughing, too, in his own way.

It was that night that Hinata stopped sleeping on the hard wooden floor of the treehouse. Tobio was well enough that Hinata didn't have to worry about actually injuring him further in his sleep, and he wouldn't let Hinata alone, pulling at him until Hinata finally climbed onto the soft pile of bedding with him.

It was, admittedly, very comfortable—and then a warm, solid arm was settling around him, a warm chest pressed up against his back, and he went still, wondering what to do with the fact that Tobio seemed to now be _cuddling_ him, curled up around him contentedly.

Hinata heard him whisper a very soft, "Okay?"

It… probably wasn't. It very much likely was not okay, that he was sleeping in Tobio's bed, that he experienced the most intense bout of butterflies every time Tobio touched him, looked for every opportunity he could to touch Tobio back. It seemed like, perhaps, none of this was entirely okay—at the very least, it didn't make sense.

"Yes," Hinata said, equally quietly. "Sleep."

He didn't, currently, care about the rest of those things. Tobio huddled close against his back, breath even and steady at the nape of his neck, as the patter of rain on leaves began to fill the air around them. Tucked inside the treehouse, it was warm and dry.

He could work out his feelings later, he decided. For now, he'd take his own advice, and sleep.

*

"Where are we going?"

After a few more nights had passed, it seemed Tobio was no longer willing to be cooped up in the treehouse, no matter how Hinata tried to convince him he needed a little more rest. The long gashes on his chest were healing very well, however, to Hinata's relief, and so they settled on something of a compromise. Try as Tobio might, Hinata refused to let him use the vines to swing through the jungle, by way of clinging around his stomach as a mostly dead weight. So instead, Tobio brought him down to the foot of the towering tree that held up the little treehouse, and they ventured forth into the jungle from there.

"Hey, _jungle boy,_ " Hinata said, trotting to keep up with the other man's long, sure strides. "Where are we _going?"_

Even if Tobio couldn't quite understand what he was saying, the whine in his voice was obvious, and the taller man turned to give him a thoroughly exasperated look. He reached out, grabbed Hinata by the hand, and pulled him along behind without a second glance.

They'd been walking for quite awhile and went forging on further still, and though Hinata could make no sense of the path they were traveling along, Tobio seemed to know perfectly well where he was going. Hinata soon grew accustomed to the ambient noise of the jungle, the hum of insects and various bird songs. He contented himself with listening. It was nothing less than a dream to him, being immersed among the trees like this.

It caught him by surprise when Tobio turned, suddenly, a small red flower in hand. He thrust it at Hinata, who looked at it, then at Tobio, questioningly.

"Like you," Tobio said. He held it up against Hinata's hair. "Same."

Hinata opened his mouth in an _oh._ Carefully, Tobio pressed the flower into his hair, expression critical. Then he nodded, seemingly satisfied, and continued on whatever path he'd chosen, towing Hinata along once more.

Soon Hinata's senses were so overloaded by the jungle around them, that he almost didn't realize when another sound began to pierce his consciousness: the low, steady shuffling of large bodies moving in the grass, until there came a startling, billowy blast from very nearby. It seemed to be coming from right in front of him.

A second echoed it, and then a third. The closest approximation of the sound Hinata had ever heard in real life before, if he had to choose, would have been _trumpets._ And he thought, then, that he might know what animal they were about to encounter, and attempted to dig in his heels.

"Wait!" he hissed, but Tobio paid him no mind and barely noticed him trying to pull back. "Tobio! Those are—"

Tobio swept aside a dense thicket of branches up ahead, and they stepped into a grassy clearing with a large watering hole. And around the water's edge were…

Elephants. An entire herd of them, massive and gray, limbs and trunks thick and solid. They lumbered about the clearing, peaceful giants, drinking the water, eating their fill of the grass.

They didn't so much as bat an eye at the tiny humans that had intruded upon their space, and as Tobio moved confidently through their midst, Hinata realized, in absolute wonder, that he wasn't afraid. Not in the slightest. Instead, he seemed to be looking for something, head turning this way and that.

He let go of Hinata's hand to put his fingers in his mouth, and unleashed a sharp, piercing whistle, so loud it made Hinata jump. He looked around, heart pounding, but the elephants still seemed quite calm. And then a distant trumpeting made him turn.

One of the enormous grays was beelining straight for them, ears flapping about its head as it moved. Hinata gasped and scrambled behind Tobio, though he knew that wouldn't do either of them an ounce of good if the animal decided it didn't like the look of them. But as it neared them, it began to slow, until its steps became more loping, tumbling, and by the time it had reached them it had stopped, right before them.

It's head was massive up close. It was slightly smaller than the others around it, Hinata noticed, and he eyed it in trepidation, wondering what it would do. But Tobio moved first.

He put out his hand, ignoring Hinata's frightened whispering of his name. Slowly, he reached up, and pressed his palm to the elephant's forehead. For a long time, neither of them moved.

Then the elephant bowed its head, low, low, and Tobio removed his hand so it could press its huge forehead to his, as a deep, earthy sound rumbled out from its throat.

Hinata stared up at them both, disbelieving. "You have an… elephant," he said faintly. "An elephant friend. Of course you do."

He watched as the elephant began to prod lightly at Tobio with its trunk, giving him what Hinata could only term an inspection. When it reached the marks on his chest, still tender and raised, it paused, trunk whiffling over them in something like concern. Tobio patted the trunk reassuringly, before he scooted Hinata out from behind him.

"Hinata," he said, placing a hand on top of Hinata's head. Hinata bowed to the elephant, reflexively. Then Tobio put a hand on his own chest. "Tobio." Finally, he touched his palm to the elephant's trunk. "Zou."

Hinata blinked. "You named your elephant… 'elephant'." Tobio nodded blankly at him and Hinata laughed. "Out of everything, you remembered that word." Then he recalled the wooden carving, one of Tobio's only and earliest memories, and smiled.

The trunk meandered over to Hinata next, and he stood very still as it emitted a low snort, sliding over his arms and pressing against his face. Tobio rubbed a hand along its side and patted its back, and after a moment, the elephant trumpeted, softer than before and backed away enough of a distance to lower its front legs into a kneeling position.

"Come," Tobio said to Hinata, who whipped his head from the elephant, to the wild man, and back.

"Wh-what? What am I doing?"

Tobio grunted at him and held out his hand, motioning for him to hurry up. Nervously, Hinata did as asked, stepping closer, fitting his hand into Tobio's own. He regretted this almost instantly when Tobio pulled him in and then lifted him, clear off the ground, pushing him up onto the elephant's back.

"No, no, no!" Hinata said. "This is—hang on—"

But Zou was already standing, with him now sitting astride the elephant's back, and the ground got further and further away.

Tobio cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, "Hup!"

And Hinata discovered that day, in a gleeful, screaming rush, exactly how fast elephants could move.

*

"That was amazing!"

Hinata was still babbling, quite some time later, as it neared early evening. They had made their way back to the tops of the trees, Hinata clinging tightly to Tobio's chest, legs wrapped around his waist, talking a mile a minute despite Tobio being mostly unable to make out his words. The dark-haired man seemed content to just let him ramble.

"Hinata happy," Tobio observed, as he climbed through into the treehouse. Hinata loosened his hold around his neck, hopping down onto the floor.

"Well, yeah, I got to ride an _elephant!"_ Hinata crowed. Then he turned and jabbed Tobio in the side. The taller man squirmed. "Though you could have warned me! I almost had a heart attack, and then—" He darted his hand out again, trying to pinch Tobio, and the other man dodged, his lips twitching. "—then I'd never have gotten to ride it because I would have been _dead_ , you little—"

The third time he reached out to poke Tobio, Tobio grabbed him around the waist to pick him up, and Hinata shrieked, kicking his legs uselessly. He giggled and pulled at Tobio's hair, earning himself a growl as Tobio tossed him onto the bed.

The furs were as soft as ever under his hands, and they made him wonder something, as Tobio dropped onto the bed himself with a soft sigh. His fingers found their way almost automatically into Hinata's hair as he lay beside him, stroking through the strands until he had freed the little wildflower. He twirled it between his fingers, holding it up for Hinata to see. Hinata plucked the bud out of his grasp, brushing the petals over Tobio's cheeks and down his nose.

"Tobio," Hinata said, as Tobio's eyes fluttered closed, "how did you get these? These furs?"

There was only one real way Tobio could have, but Hinata almost couldn't believe it. Not seeing how much Tobio loved Zou, and how careful and kind the other man could be.

Tobio opened his eyes, though he didn't look at Hinata, right away. He stared far off, remembering, working out how to tell the story with the few words he knew.

"When Tobio… small," he said, "they… hurt him." He tapped a finger on the animal pelt, yellow and spotted black. "Want to eat Tobio."

Hinata stared at him. "They attacked you," he said. Jaguars typically wouldn't come after humans, but Tobio must have been so little, and they would have grown accustomed to him in their territory. Eventually, he would have seemed as good a snack as any other animal.

Tobio nodded, and pointed, at the old scars on his stomach. "Tobio run. Climb. One day… fight."

Hinata trailed the flowerbud over the scars at his navel, outlining them with the red petals. "You would be safer if you ran."

Tobio shook his head, agitated. "Not run." He sat up, and pounded his fist on his chest with conviction. "Not anymore. Tobio fights!"

"Okay, okay," Hinata said. Tobio huffed a few angry breaths, chest heaving, but calmed quickly when Hinata ran a hand up and down his arm soothingly. "You know, for being such a great jungle warrior and all, you go down pretty easily in wrestling matches."

Tobio glanced at him in confusion. "Go… down?"

"Mmm, yeah, kinda like— _this!"_

Hinata flung his flower over his shoulder, to grab Tobio around the waist. The other man grunted, caught off guard, as Hinata shoved him down onto his back, laughing gleefully at Tobio's slow reaction to retaliate. But Tobio's eyes sparked in a way that might have once seemed dangerous, but now registered to Hinata as playful, even mischievous. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the tables had turned, and Hinata found himself being tickled, his shouts of half-hearted protest practically rattling the treehouse.

He turned over onto his stomach to try and squirm away, but Tobio easily thwarted that effort, pushing one hand down flat on his back. Hinata sprawled face down onto the bed with a muffled complaint. The next second, he felt a heavy, solid weight settling over him as Tobio dropped on top of his body. Hinata squawked.

"Now you're just showing off," he said indignantly, and felt a puff of air over his ear. Tobio was laughing. Hinata forced his own laughter down, biting his lip. "Do you know what 'heavy' means? _Hea-vy._ That's what your jungle ass is."

"Jungle ass," Tobio repeated.

 _"How_ is that what you pick up," Hinata asked, trying to wriggle himself free, "in that entire sentence—oh."

As he moved, and Tobio tried to keep him in place, Hinata had pushed back into him. Something hard, and thick, pressed against his ass, and Tobio's soft laughter hitched.

 _Oh,_ Hinata thought, going still. That was… definitely… "Tobio…?"

The low groan Tobio breathed in his ear made his cheeks burn, heated by the fire suddenly coming to life in his belly.

"Hinata," Tobio said, softly. When he shifted, the solid length of him dragged against the cleft of Hinata's ass, and he let out a noise, a shocked gasp. Then, hesitant, he slid his hand up Hinata's chest, fingers splaying across it to anchor them both in place as he slowly rocked his hips again.

Hinata's mouth fell open, eyes sliding shut. The _feel_ of him—solid and hot…

_Oh, yes._

Tobio pushed his other hand up Hinata's back, and then buried it in his hair as he dropped his forehead to rest against Hinata's neck. He held on tight, and now he became— _rough,_ hips grinding in a slow, maddening circle, thrusting his cock hard against Hinata's ass. Hinata let out a whine as Tobio yanked at his hair, his other hand securing Hinata even tighter against his chest, like he didn't want to let go again.

"Yes, yes," Hinata babbled, voice a bare whisper. "God, that's good, you feel so good, so _good—_ " He hadn't even realized, how much he'd been wanting this. It had crept up on him without him even noticing, though he'd been somewhat aware of the warm bubble in his chest he felt every time he looked at Tobio, every time Tobio touched him. Still, this was…

"Good?" Tobio murmured, as though the idea hadn't even occurred to him. And it probably hadn't, Hinata realized. He must not even know what he was doing, other than liking how it felt. His basic instincts, dictating that he take Hinata, right then and there.

Hinata moaned, high and uneven. "Y-yeah—"

Tobio sat up and rolled him over, and Hinata blinked at him helplessly, dazed. Tobio always looked almost inhumanly attractive, but right now he was overwhelmingly so—scarred, sculpted chest heaving with his breathing, the soft, dark strands of his hair messy and flyaway, the scrap of cloth that usually covered him doing nothing to hide his flushed cock, hard and heavy between his legs.

The wild man stared down at him for a moment, then ducked his head. For one heart-pounding second, Hinata thought Tobio was going to kiss him—but then he just pressed their foreheads together, slow and deliberate. His eyes were unfocused as they locked onto Hinata's, almost drowsy, drunk on arousal. Hinata keened as Tobio started to rock against him again, and Tobio's hips jumped, cock rubbing hard against Hinata's nearly painful erection in his pants.

"Hinata," he said, lashes fluttering. He fought to keep them open, to keep looking into Hinata's eyes. "Hinata, Hina— _Hinata—_ "

Hinata grabbed onto his shoulders, fingers digging into the flexing muscle, wrapping his legs around the other man's waist. He couldn't have looked away from Tobio, even if he'd wanted to. He wanted to hold him close, wanted to have him closer. _"More,_ " he moaned. 

"M-more," Tobio repeated, voice catching, hoarse. He fumbled a hand down to slip it underneath Hinata, long fingers splayed firmly against his ass as Tobio hiked him up higher and worked himself down hard, hips rolling faster. He whimpered, and Hinata tried to hold him tighter, as he panted, "L-like this? T-tell—"

"Just—like that—" Hinata nodded as best he could with their faces so close together. "To- _Tobio…_ "

Tobio brought a hand to his face, thumb coming to rest at the corner of his mouth. He traced it over Hinata's lips, pressing against the plump flesh, dragging Hinata's bottom lip down slowly. Hinata let it slide over Tobio's skin, eyes never once leaving Tobio's as he brushed the soft, wet inside of his lower lip over the calloused pad of Tobio's thumb, tongue flicking out to taste salty sweat.

Tobio's eyes went wide, then rolled back and slipped closed. And then he was coming, quiet as he shuddered out his orgasm, his thrusts uneven, weakening as he finished. Hinata's stomach clenched watching him, the unbelievable bliss washing over his flushed face, soft panting breaths escaping his lips, mouth soft and slack and open.

His eyes opened slowly, and when he saw Hinata staring at him, the deep blue of them went gentle and warm, and the almost-there smile on his lips matched it.

And Hinata saw all the signs written across his face, that, instinct or not, wild or not, Tobio hadn't just used him as a way to get off. He'd been raised by the jungle, but he was still human.

Tobio cared about him. In fact, Hinata was, in all likelihood, the first person Tobio could even remember caring about.

Tobio murmured his name again, voice low, trailing one hand down his chest and stomach, to where Hinata was still hard. His fingers brushing over Hinata's cock felt torturously good, but before Hinata could lose his head again completely, he hit Tobio's hand away and shoved at his chest.

"N-no," he choked out. "No, Tobio, stop."

Tobio pulled back, expression confused. "No?"

Hinata shook his head. He sat up, feeling vaguely dizzy, and drew his knees up to his chest. Tobio scooted closer, reached to put a hand on his shoulder, and Hinata shrank away, dropping his forehead to his knees.

He heard Tobio ask, softly, "Not… okay?"

Hinata closed his eyes. Tobio didn't know what he was doing, didn't even know what had just happened, had just acted on his obvious feelings for Hinata, that Hinata had _stupidly_ been pretending didn't exist. He had no idea Hinata, who had stumbled into his life out of the blue, couldn't stay with him. And Hinata couldn't even explain why. Instead, he'd just taken advantage.

"It's not okay," he said. "I'm sorry."

After a long moment of quiet, Tobio said, "Hinata?"

Hinata looked up at him, and immediately wished he hadn't. Tobio looked shocked, and hurt, and as Hinata watched, he put one of his big hands to his chest, and rubbed the space over his heart, his brow furrowing.

So Hinata was now the first person ever to make him sad, too. He wanted to toss himself right out one of the treehouse windows.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Hinata told him, not sure he could understand. He pointed at himself. "My fault."

"Tobio is confused." The man's eyes were large, staring.

"That’s my fault, too. I—" Hinata swallowed. "Tobio, this is your home. But it’s not mine."

Tobio took a long, long time to respond. When he finally spoke again, Hinata realized the pause had been due to effort, as Tobio worked out what to say and how to say it.

"Tobio… think," he said slowly, "Hinata… happy here. He want to make Hinata happy. But…" He trailed off, and stared at his hands in his lap. "Hinata is sad."  

"No," Hinata said fervently, "Tobio, I _am_ happy. Please don't—"

"Then why?" Tobio asked him, so startlingly clear it made Hinata falter.

"I—" he stammered. "I have to… leave. I have to leave you." These weren't even words Tobio knew yet, and he tilted his head.

"Leave?"

"Yes," Hinata said, as this fact became ever clearer. "Tomorrow. I need you to take me back to camp." He pointed, out the window, back the way they had come from. "Can you do that?"

Tobio looked in the direction he was pointing for a long time. "No more Hinata?"

"Yes," Hinata said again, barely a whisper. "No more Hinata. That's why."

Tobio sat back on the bed, his shoulders slumping. His eyes looked dull. But he nodded. "Okay, Hinata." He sounded as far away from okay as it was possible to be.

"I'm sorry," Hinata said again, heart twisting painfully.

Tobio didn't respond. He didn't look at him, and he didn't try to hold his hand when they went to sleep, or lie pressed against Hinata's side like he had been doing for the past few days.

He seemed to already be acting like Hinata was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to RC's chapter 2 art -- [this gorgeous sketch of Tobio](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/post/158555455884/the-heart-of-the-jungle-chapter-2-by-esselley) by Hinata.
> 
> [I'm [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to share [this art of baby Tobio and Zou](http://goodnight-butsu.tumblr.com/post/158589557654/please-read-esselleys-wonderful-tarzan-au-fic-it) that Butsu drew for HOTJ... it has been yanking on my heartstrings nonstop T.T

Tobio helped Hinata get back in the afternoon the next day, swinging through the trees as he had when he'd first brought them both out into the jungle. It was very strange for Hinata, to be clinging to him so tightly and not speaking. Though their conversation level was still minimal, they always tried to talk to one another, or at least co-existed near to each other in companionable silence. But this trip, Tobio ignored Hinata. Like he wasn't there.

He lowered them both to the ground in a small clearing near the camp. Hinata turned to say something to him, though he wasn't sure what. But as soon as his feet were both safely on the ground, the wild man had swung back up into the trees without a word of goodbye.

Of course, Hinata thought sadly, as he watched Tobio disappear from view—Tobio didn't know what a goodbye was in the first place. And that was the entirety of the problem.

Being back at the research camp was strange. The fact that Hinata felt this way was, in and of itself, quite odd—after all, camp should have been familiar, comforting. Perhaps even a relief to return to.

Instead, it was none of those things. Despite the fact that they were deep in the jungle, the camp seemed to show too many signs of civilization, modernization. It wasn't a natural retreat, like the treehouse had been. It seemed to impose itself on the greenery around it.

Hinata felt, too, a vague sense of guilt at the relief on the faces of the other expedition members, who crowded around him as soon as they saw him approaching. He felt guilty that he had worried them, and then a second surge, because he still felt no regret over it. Though he felt bad for the stress he'd caused, he would do it all again in a heartbeat—if only it wouldn't mean hurting Tobio.

And this made his guilt slowly fade, until it was replaced with something a bit like annoyance. He had been perfectly safe in the jungle, but he kept having to explain this to everyone over, and over. And it rankled at him, that people thought he could have been anything less than happy, when in fact it felt like the opposite. He'd been far happier out in the wild. And though he was vague about exactly where he'd been (and made no mention of who he'd been with), it was clear he was alive and well now that he'd returned. He even had his notebooks, filled with his findings from the past weeks, detailed with drawings, comparisons, and statistics of the flora and fauna. These were so valuable that he ended up lending them all out within the day—all except one notebook that he kept hidden away, filled with pages and pages of his sketches of Tobio.

Eventually, after the excitement had died down, after he'd spent days going over his findings and notes with the other researchers (something he _did_ love to do), he became restless. He ate mostly alone, sitting near the outskirts of the camp and staring out into the trees. He didn't dare venture out by himself again. He didn't know that he would come back if he did.

This was for the best, he kept telling himself, or at least… it had seemed like it was at the time. And there didn't seem to be another choice available to him. Trying to bring Tobio into the bustling camp, when he shied away from humans and had taken days to get used to simply being around Hinata, seemed more cruel than kind. So Hinata tried to bring himself to heel with the understanding that he'd done the only thing he could.

It didn't work. He felt himself getting more distracted and less interested in the work around him. Even the research seemed less vibrant now—he felt oddly removed from it, after being able to experience it with no boundaries or limitations, living right within that world in the treetops.

And he couldn't overlook how much he missed Tobio. He'd tried not thinking about him, after the first painful week spent flipping through his notebook, front to back to front again, poring over sketch pages filled with solid, strong musculature, and long, soft hair, and curious, dark eyes. Eventually, he'd stuffed the notebook with the drawings under the thin mattress of his bed, where he could forget it existed.

But that didn't mean he could forget Tobio existed. And he had, Tobio had existed, as real and perfect as the pages of the notebook depicted him. Moreso, because those were just drawings—there were things he couldn't capture, the softness of the other man's eyes and the exact moment right before he almost smiled. The way it felt, when he let his fingers explore Hinata's body.

This was another thing Hinata couldn't stop thinking about, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't stop thinking about how it hadn't seemed strange at all that they'd just met when Tobio started to let his big, warm hands wander whenever he felt like it, _wherever_ he felt like it… and Hinata had melted, waited for every touch.

Yes, he had been stupid. This wasn't anything new, but even he should have seen what happened coming. And this was the reason he couldn't get his mind off it. The misunderstanding (if it could even be called that) had been his fault entirely, yet Tobio had been the one to get hurt. Night after night since he'd left, Hinata had woken up hot and gasping, rutting into the sheets, memories thick in his mind of Tobio's heavy body lying over his, the smell of his clean sweat right after they'd been walking out in the rain, the low, low sounds of his moans—but he refused to act on the urges further.

And then there was a night when he blinked awake, vision blurry, the corners of his eyes stinging. When he put his fingers to them, they came away wet. A voice rang in his head, the words repeating, over and over.

_"No more Hinata?"_

He gasped, and fumbled his way out of bed, plunging his hand under the mattress to rip his notebook out from under it. Next, he searched inside his pack, fingers grasping for his flashlight—but it wasn't there. He straightened, sniffling. He knew he'd packed it the night before returning, which meant Tobio had taken it out of his bag. Hinata wiped at his eyes and shook his head.

He ended up huddled under one of the outdoor lights they'd rigged up in the common area of the camp, sketching in the dim lighting until his fingers felt cramped and painful. And it was the same face, the same eyes, but they seemed even less of an adequate impression now than the other drawings in the book. Not because he was forgetting, not because he couldn't remember Tobio's face as clearly as if he'd just seen him, but because it wasn't enough.

He could have done better. He could have at least stayed until Tobio understood _why_ he couldn't. Instead, Hinata had abandoned him, through no fault of his own.

Hinata clutched his sketchbook to his chest, and stared out at the dark silhouettes of the trees.

A noise behind him, a thump in the grass, made him startle. He turned, and saw nothing at first—then he noticed a gleam, the light glinting off a small shape on the ground. He closed his hand around it.

It was his flashlight.

Slowly, he picked it up, holding it in front of his face. For a moment, he was confused, a string of questions running through his head. Then he spun, so quickly he had to put a hand down in the grass to balance himself.

"Tobio?" he whispered. The trees gave no answer.

He stood, staring into the nearby treeline, before he leapt to his feet. His first, brief stop was back to his tent—to stuff a pack full of things he'd need, or wanted to have with him, clothes, food, supplies. Not, as the past times had been, for a short trip, but for an extended period. He knew now; once he was gone, he had plans to be away for quite some time.

Then, without thinking about what he was doing, he let his feet carry him, first jogging, increasing in speed, until he was running, sprinting toward the tall, dark shapes of the trees. He passed beneath the canopy and the world grew much darker.

"Tobio?" he called out again. It was wet, a light rain starting to mist the air. The only sounds Hinata could hear were the animal calls. But there was no other explanation for his flashlight appearing out of nowhere.

He kept running, crashing through the underbrush, heedless of the amount of noise he was making. He could hear the skittering sounds of creatures racing out of his path, but he knew that out there, somewhere… how long had he been there, Hinata wondered? Had he run, now that he'd revealed himself? Had it been a coincidence… or had he been watching the whole time?

The noise of the rain grew, the water falling harder and harder from the skies above. Hinata barely noticed, paid it no mind, had no concept of how far he'd run—he wasn't paying attention to anything at all, except trying to catch up, trying to catch—

"TOBI—" he began to shout, and suddenly his foot slipped on something, a rock made smooth and wet by the rain, and he realized the growing sound of water wasn't just the rain, but was rushing from another source—the river, and he'd stumbled onto its banks. And now was slipping, off balance, about to tumble into the dark water below.

Something caught him hard around his waist, knocked the wind from his lungs, even as he found himself being swept away from the treacherous slope. Next thing he knew, he was being flung down into the grass, tumbling to the ground, landing on his back so forcefully he felt dazed. He blinked, trying to get his bearings, and realized he wasn't staring up at the sky.

He was staring up into a pair of midnight dark eyes.

Tobio's inky black hair, wet from the rain, hung like a curtain around them. Even in the dark, Hinata could make out the worried scrunch of his forehead, the part of his lips. Hinata gasped in relief—not at being saved, but because Tobio was _there._

But the sound seemed to startle the other man. His eyes went wide and he pushed away from Hinata, scrambling to put distance between them where they sat in the grass. Hinata sat up, confused.

"What?" he asked. He moved closer to Tobio. "What's wrong?"

Tobio was silent for a long moment before replying. "Hinata need light," he said slowly. "Tobio bring to him."

Hinata nodded fiercely. "Thank you. Thank you, Tobio."

"Not angry?"

"No. I'm happy," Hinata told him firmly. Tobio stared at him, disbelievingly. "I'm happy to see you." He moved forward again, hand outstretched, but Tobio shook his head now, scooting farther away. He looked… frightened. Just like he had the first time Hinata had tried to touch him. Tobio had been afraid Hinata was going to hurt him, then.

"Touch Hinata," the man said, haltingly. "Not good."

"I—oh." Hinata's heart plummeted. Of course, Tobio wouldn't want to touch him. Not after what had happened last time.

"Tobio won't touch," the wild man said slowly, "and Hinata stay with Tobio?"

Hinata squeezed his eyes closed, as he understood. And now he regretted. It wasn't that Tobio didn't want to touch him—it was that he was too afraid of Hinata disappearing again if he did.

Very carefully, Hinata crawled closer to Tobio again. When he began to shy away, Hinata called his name softly, making the other man look at him as he reached out for him. Tobio's entire body shook, when Hinata pressed a hand to his face, brushing his hair aside to cup his cheek, thumb sliding over the bridge of his nose as he held Tobio's face gently.

"Tobio," he whispered, "this is okay. It's okay."

Tobio looked at him, eyes round. “Okay?”

When Hinata nodded, his eyes fluttered closed and he let out a heavy, shaking sigh. He turned his face, rubbing his cheek hard against Hinata's palm before he brought one big hand up to thread his fingers through Hinata's, keeping his grip firmly in place as he nuzzled against it. Hinata felt the movement of his lips as Tobio breathed his name into his palm.

"How could I just leave you?" Hinata whispered, chest squeezing tighter and tighter as Tobio melted against his fingertips, rapturously happy. "Tobio…"

Tobio tugged at his wrist, and Hinata tumbled against his chest as Tobio curled him easily into his long arms. Hinata wrapped his arms around Tobio's neck and buried his face in his shoulder, eyes hot and blurry again. It was overwhelming, to feel so readily taken back, when barely any words had passed between them.

"Tobio feels…" the man murmured, his voice a familiar, low rumble. Hinata rubbed his nose against Tobio's collarbone.

"I missed you," he mumbled.

"Miss?"

"You were gone," Hinata explained. "And I was sad."

A hand closed over his face, fingers tugging at his jaw, pressing against his cheeks—Tobio made Hinata look at him again. "Hinata sad?" he asked.

Hinata stared at him, looked long at his face, at the blue eyes searching and soft, worried over Hinata. Like it had been Hinata who was hurt—and it _had_ hurt, to leave Tobio, to know he was out there alone and wondering what had happened.

But he had hurt Tobio far more, because Tobio hadn't understood why he'd been left behind. Hinata wouldn't let that happen again.

"Not sad anymore," Hinata told him. "I'm sorry I was stupid."

And just like that, he was forgiven.

"It's okay." Tobio bent his head, knocking their foreheads together, utterly content. "Happy, now."

*

Hinata woke the next morning feeling groggy, unsure of his surroundings. But as the sounds of jungle life began to filter through to him, so did his memories, and he remembered where he was—back at the treehouse, tucked in against soft furs. There was a reason he felt so warm and overly snug.

Tobio had wrapped himself around him in the night, one arm pinning Hinata's face to his chest, the other tight around his waist. A long leg had been thrown over Hinata's own, heavy across his limbs. He squirmed. Tobio was still fast asleep.

He took a moment while trapped to glance around the treehouse, soaking in the fact that he was back, after what felt like far too long. Nothing had changed since he'd left. Then a bright spot of color caught his eye, and he twisted he head, squinting to look closer.

In among Tobio's treasures, the photographs, the smooth rocks, the carved elephant, was a new possession: a small, red flower, dried out and missing a few petals now, but still carefully kept.

Hinata turned away from it and squashed his face into Tobio's chest, as his still fresh guilt over leaving threatened to creep up on him again. Tobio stirred vaguely in his sleep, and then tightened his hold on Hinata's body, and Hinata felt the breath being squeezed from his lungs.

"Tobio," Hinata whispered. "I need… air…"

He pushed at Tobio's chest as best he could, patting at the firm muscles with his hands, until Tobio's nose twitched, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Morning, Sleepy," Hinata said.

Tobio stared at him. Then he pushed away, untangling himself with a shocking quickness, leaving Hinata able to breathe but startled.

"S-sorry," the wild man said, the word sounding heavy and unfamiliar on his tongue. "Sor… sorry… Hinata—"

"Why are you apologizing?" Hinata asked him. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Tobio shook his head. "Touch without asking. Not good."

"Oh," Hinata said. "Hey, that's… you were sleeping. And I—" He swallowed. _I liked it,_ he wanted to say. But that seemed unfair to bring up. "I didn't mind it."

Tobio stared down at his hands. "Tobio ask now. Okay?"

"You say, _'I_ will ask'," Hinata corrected. "And… okay."

"Tobio wants to touch," the other man said instantly.

"It's _'I'_ want—" Hinata started to say, then blinked. "Oh, now?"

Tobio nodded. "What… is… okay?"

He looked so hesitant, that Hinata resolved right then and there to help him forget the apparent trauma he'd undergone, when Hinata had left him.

He scooted closer to Tobio on the bed. "Why don't you try and find out?" When Tobio shook his head, Hinata touched his shoulder lightly. Tobio's eyes flickered to where Hinata's fingers rested, and Hinata smiled at him, fingers trailing up and down his arm encouragingly. "I won't get mad. I'll tell you if it's too much."

Tobio nodded. "Hinata's… face." He put a finger in the center of Hinata's forehead and swept it down to the tip of his nose. "Nose…"

Hinata smiled, closing his eyes. Tobio's fingers on his face seemed less nervous once he wasn't looking. They were still soft, and so was the other man's voice, as he picked out Hinata's brows and cheeks and chin, thumb brushing over each, before he stopped, fingers pulling away.  

"I'm fine," Hinata said quietly. He felt drowsy again—not sleepy, after just having woken, but warm and comfortable and hazy. "Tobio?"

He fluttered his lashes, eyes opening, just as Tobio stroked his thumb over his lips.

"Mouth," Tobio said, nearly a whisper. "Lips." He was staring so intently that Hinata giggled.

"Tobio—" Hinata started to say, and the man hummed, low, sounding pleased.

"Again," he said. "Name."

"Tobio," Hinata obliged, and Tobio traced his lips as they formed his name. "To—bi—o."

Tobio circled the "O" of his mouth on the last syllable, mesmerized. And then, intently, he slipped his finger past Hinata's lips. Hinata uttered a tiny noise of surprise as Tobio pressed down against his tongue, reflexively opening wider to accommodate the unexpected intrusion.

Suddenly he had two fingers in his mouth instead of one, couldn't help but swallow around them, tongue sliding between them—he felt a firm, strong hand, long fingers, grasp at his chin and when he looked up through his lashes, it was just in time to catch Tobio's heavy-lidded expression, as the wild man dug his teeth hard into his bottom lip, stare still trained on Hinata's wet mouth, stretched around his fingers.

Hinata's breath hitched on a moan.

Tobio jumped like he'd been startled, yanking his fingers away, and Hinata gasped, panting for air, breathless. He blinked, head clearing, and then realized what he'd done. Frantically, he wiped at his mouth, where saliva had begun to gather at the corners.

"Crap," he said. "I'm sorry—" His cheeks burned, and he put his hands up to hide his face. What was _wrong_ with him? He knew he was attracted to Tobio, and vice versa—but that didn't make it okay in the slightest for him to lose control so quickly. If he wanted to stay with Tobio, this was what he was supposed to be avoiding.

Hands tugged at his own, pulling them away from his face so Tobio could see it clearly. His eyes were dark, and his cheeks were flushed red, but he was looking at Hinata with nervous concern.

"Too much," he said.

"Um… yeah." Hinata smiled sheepishly. "Maybe a little. But I'm okay."

Tobio nodded, slowly. "Hinata touch Tobio now?" he asked hopefully.

There it was again, that painful squeezing around Hinata's heart. So many past moments were thrown into sharp relief for him; Tobio's fixation with touching him, his instant calm response to Hinata playing with his hair, the dazed bliss in his eyes when Hinata ran his fingers over his skin. How overwhelmingly relieved he was to be given permission now that Hinata was back.

He was so desperate, desperate to be touched by another human for the first time he could remember. He couldn't help but beg for it. And Hinata knew he didn't have to do anything more, anything less innocent, other than just letting Tobio know he was there.

Hinata pressed close to him, let his hands wander, fingers skirting over Tobio's hips, his ribs. He smoothed his palms over Tobio's scarred chest, felt slowly over all the defined grooves in his abdomen, grazed his sides before rubbing over his back, pressing against the strong muscle.

Tobio's eyes squeezed shut and he let out a little whimper, happily distraught, like he couldn't believe what was happening. Hinata pushed their foreheads together and shushed him soothingly, running his hand over Tobio's back, from his shoulders to his waist, up and down in big, comforting strokes.

"I'm back, now," he murmured. "I came back to Tobio, see?"

Tobio nodded shakily and wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist. Hinata rubbed the tip of his nose gently against Tobio's, tracing over the bridge. It was the first time he'd done this, and Tobio opened his eyes at the sensation, trying to look at him, going cross-eyed in the process.

"Tobio was sad," he said. "Miss Hinata."

"You are great at this guilt-tripping thing," Hinata said, and then laughed.

Apparently very much liking the newly discovered nose bumping, Tobio put his nose directly into Hinata's mouth. Hinata choked and coughed.

"Tobio is great," said the wild man. "Why Hinata leave? Stupid."

"I'm not—" Hinata gaped at him. "Am I going to regret teaching you that word?"

Tobio snorted, tucking Hinata closer to his chest. "Stupid," he said again.

"Hmph," Hinata huffed, nuzzling into his warm skin. He may be slightly stupid. But that didn't mean he had to admit it out loud again. He'd just try and make up for it, for now.

*

It was really something, Hinata thought, how far away the ground looked from the treetops.

"Hinata is slow…" Tobio said from behind him, and he whipped around.

"Not slow!" Hinata snapped at him. "It's not my fault you've never heard the phrase 'look before you leap'!"

Tobio blinked innocently back, and Hinata turned his back on him, ignoring the other man. This proved to be a mistake.

"Too slow," Tobio said, right before he shoved Hinata off the tree branch they were standing on.

Hinata shrieked, fortunately remembering at the last moment to cling tightly to the vine clutched in his grasp as he swung in a great wide arc out over the forest floor.

He was still screaming as he reached the highest opposite point of his swing, before he came rushing back like a pendulum. But he hadn't splattered on the jungle floor or been flung loose of the vine, and his shouting became something more of a manic giggle at the feeling of freefall causing his stomach to swoop.

He cried out as he swung back, half excitement, half fright, but Tobio reached out for him, caught him safely when he'd reached his original starting point, grip firm on his shoulders to keep him from tumbling back out into space. Hinata let go of the vine and the momentum sent him sprawling forward, causing Tobio to sit down quickly so they both didn't overbalance.

The tree they had used as a jumping point was one of the old ones, maybe as old as the jungle itself. The size was mind-boggling, almost primordial—Hinata could easily imagine it sprouting up young when the first humans had been learning to walk on two legs, or perhaps even before they had come into existence. The branches were as strong and thick as carpenter built flooring, quite capable of supporting his and Tobio's weight and movement with ease. Though the forest floor was far below, Hinata felt safe, so far above it, with the tree branch underneath his feet.

"I did it," Hinata said triumphantly, despite the fact that he was trembling like a leaf as he crawled closer to Tobio, heart still racing. The other man leaned back against the enormous tree trunk, dark eyes watching him with amusement. "I was _going_ to do it, even if you hadn't pushed me off."

"Lying is bad," Tobio told him.

"I'm not lying," Hinata huffed. He definitely would have jumped, sooner or later, eventually. Probably. Tobio was looking at him now with his lips almost smiling, and so Hinata pushed his nose into his personal space to glare as hard as he could. The dark-haired man leaned away, pretending to ignore him, even as his hand pressed against the small of Hinata's back to guide him in closer, until Hinata was seated securely in his lap.

Tobio curled and uncurled his fingers loosely over his shirt, and Hinata leaned against his chest as the shakiness in his limbs started to subside. His heart, however, was still pounding. Under his ear, he could feel Tobio's start to pick up.

"Hinata…" Tobio said slowly.

"Hmm?"

"Tobio— _I_ lied, too."

Hinata raised his head to look at him, curious. Tobio's vocabulary had been expanding surprisingly quickly over the past week as he made attempts to speak more often—but he still had trouble with more intuitive grammar rules. He was concentrating hard, now, frowning, drawing in a little breath as he thought out what he wanted to say.

"I… wanted to tell Hinata—tell you. But… forgot." His eyes darted away, and back to Hinata's face, before settling somewhere in the vicinity of his chest.

"You forgot?" Hinata asked. Tobio blinked. "Or you didn't want to tell me?" Tobio's nose wrinkled, mouth twitching, and Hinata instinctively laid a hand against his cheek to put him at ease. "It's okay if you weren't ready to tell me right away."

Tobio pressed his nose into Hinata's hand, eyes peeking out at him, expression still hesitant. He seemed unaware of just how severely this affected Hinata—though it was possible Tobio subconsciously realized that the cuter he behaved, the more cuddling he received. Like a Pavlovian response, Hinata mused, even as he cradled Tobio's face with his fingers gently, bumping their foreheads together. Tobio huffed a sigh through his nose.

Hinata murmured, "Tobio, tell me?"

"Hinata left," Tobio said, and Hinata rolled his forehead over the other man's, stomach still panging with regret. He pressed his nose against Tobio's temple as he continued. "But… I… remember. I think about it, even after."

"Think about what?" Hinata asked. "About me?"

Tobio nodded. "About touching."

Hinata smiled. "That's not that big a secret.”

"No. Before."

"I'm not…" Hinata shook his head. "Sorry, I don't understand."

"Tobio _touched_ Hinata," the other man said, "and _then_ Hinata left."

Hinata's eyes widened. _Oh._ He swallowed, shutting his eyes.

"Hinata?"

Tobio's voice was low, quiet, just a deep rumble in his chest, and Hinata shivered in his arms. Instantly, he recalled everything—like he had every night they'd been apart, Tobio's heat, how strong and confident his hands were, his eyes heavy and dark as he stared at Hinata, on the brink of orgasm—

"Sorry—" Tobio started to say.

"You—" Hinata said, and paused when he heard how hoarse his voice sounded. Calm, he needed to calm down. "Did you think about—you thought about that while I was gone?"

"It's bad," Tobio said, instantly. "Won't do it anymore." His fingers pressed hard at Hinata's back. They were shaking, slightly. He was scared.

Hinata breathed slowly. "It's not bad." It wasn't—it was natural. It wasn't Tobio's fault, and he needed to know that. "Hey—look at me." Reluctantly, Tobio did as asked. "You can't really control thinking about that. It's a… a biological—"

"Tobio touched here," the man said, cutting him off. He pointed, down at the loincloth he used to cover himself with. "When he think about Hinata, he touch here, a lot. Made things— _happen._ "

Hinata blinked at him. Then he hid his face in the crook of his arm as he started to laugh so hard his shoulders shook.

"Hinata," Tobio said, insistently. He sounded vaguely annoyed now. "Stop. Trying to _tell_ you. Did bad things."

Hinata dissolved even harder into giggles. "N-no—that's—" He squeaked as Tobio tried to drag his arm away from his face. "Sorry!" he said, and then threw his arms around Tobio's neck, embracing him. "I'm trying not to laugh at you! You're just…"

"Not angry?" Tobio asked quietly. He wrapped his arms around Hinata in return, and Hinata could hear the relief in his voice.

"No," Hinata promised. For a moment, neither spoke, and the jungle filled in the quiet space—birds flitting through the leaves, the far off call of a monkey.

"Can I tell?" Tobio murmured.

Hinata buried his face in the other man's neck. "Yeah. Yeah, tell me."

So Tobio told him. Slowly, trying to convey what he'd felt, what he'd thought, with the few words he knew.

How he liked having Hinata under him, close to him, how it made it hard to think about anything else at all. How he seemed to never be able to stop thinking about, looking at, touching Hinata. The way Hinata looked at him, the way Hinata sounded, the moment Hinata said Tobio made him feel good, too, was better than anything he'd ever known, but it was also too much, until suddenly he just felt—

"Good," Tobio said softly, his face pressed into Hinata's hair, and Hinata curled up against him, feeling small and safe and needed. "Felt good, good, _good."_

Hinata wanted, he _wanted._ He wanted to feel that again, too. He wanted to give that back to Tobio, he wanted to see that smile again, the soft, warm one. But it was perhaps too close to some kind of feeling even Hinata himself had never experienced before, to be anything less than terrifying, as wonderful as it had been. He was too afraid, to let Tobio have it, and then yank it away from him again.

But he also didn't want Tobio to be afraid now.

"It's okay," Hinata told him. "Tobio, if _you_ were happy, that makes me happy. Not upset."

"But…"

"I'm not mad you did that," Hinata said. Quite the opposite, but he wasn't going to go as far as to say that. "I'm not mad at you at all."

Tobio hummed. "Tobio will stop."

Hinata traced over the pale lines on his chest, the raised scars that stood out on his tanned skin. "Do you want to stop?"

Two long fingers brushed over his cheek, then rough knuckles, that dipped under his chin to tilt his head up. Hinata caught his breath when he met Tobio's serious stare.

"No," Tobio said.

Hinata wrenched his gaze down, face flaring red as he said, "That's okay, too."

Tobio didn't try to make him look back again. "Okay," he said simply, after a moment. But his voice was rougher than usual, raw, and he shifted to pull Hinata closer to him, one hand resting low on his back, the other combing his fingers carefully through Hinata's hair. Hinata relaxed into him, wondering how they'd ended up with Tobio trying to comfort him, instead of the other way around.

*

Even after having spent a few weeks in the jungle, away from the bustle of the camp, Hinata still couldn't say for certain which time of day was his favorite, out there in the wild.

There were the hot, humid afternoons, with the sun high in the sky, when the shade of trees or the cool rivers were the only respite to be found. There were the warm evenings, the changing of the guard between the day animals and the night, and the way the sounds of the jungle turned from bright to mysterious and contemplative. And there were the pitch dark nights, glimpses of gleaming stars through the tree branches when the sky was dry, or a cloud-shrouded moon when it rained. Each hour had its own beauty.

But there was something to be said for the early mornings.

Right as the air started to warm, and the mists were still clearing. The dew and scattered rain droplets on all the moss and grass gleamed like cut diamonds, golden pearls in the soft streaks of sunlight as it edged over the green horizon. It was often the echo of bird song that roused Hinata, and for a long moment he would lay there, awake, but with his eyes closed as he listened, let the sounds filter in and rouse him better than any strong cup of coffee.

Perhaps part of what made the mornings so great was the remembrance of where he was—always a warm, heavy arm draped protectively over his hip or waist or slung across his chest. Tobio would stir when he woke, shifting against him, and Hinata would whisper to him to go back to sleep, he was just going down for a little bit—Tobio could come find him later. He would wait until the little wrinkle in Tobio's forehead had smoothed out, and then he slowly slipped away, watching fondly as Tobio burrowed into the warm space he'd just vacated, falling back into sleep almost instantly.

It had taken some time, but Hinata had learned how to make it down to the ground on his own. He was much slower at it than Tobio, but by using a combination of the handholds in the trunk and the vines to lower himself, he could find himself at the foot of the tree after just a few minutes of careful movement. From there, he would strike out, to a place that was now very familiar to him.

"Good morning to you, too, Zou," he said, greeting the elephant upon his arrival at the watering hole by patting Zou's friendly, curious trunk.

Hinata had always befriended animals very easily, but he wasn't sure if the elephant herd had accepted him naturally, or because they had come to associate him with Tobio, who they all seemed comfortable with, none more so than Zou. He probably smelled enough like Tobio, at this point, that they couldn't tell much of a difference. Hinata blushed a little, pushing his face into Zou's leathery forehead in embarrassment.

"Okay, Shouyou, time to cool off," he muttered.

There was a creek near the watering hole, deep enough to bathe in, but shallow enough that the danger of getting swept away by the current was not there, as it was with most of the rivers. The elephants didn't drink from it, surrounded by trees as it was—it was too difficult for them to approach. But somehow, their nearby presence made Hinata feel safer, when it was just him alone in the jungle.

He stripped out of his clothes and left them on the bank, hopping down into the water. It was only cool, but the temperature difference made him yelp, goosebumps springing up on his arms as he rubbed them vigorously. Before long, he'd grown used to it, the warmth of the air pleasant on his wet skin. He dunked his head below the surface of the water before bursting out again, sucking in air and gasping much louder than was necessary. But there was no one around to hear him, anyway. He giggled.

For awhile, he splashed and dove and swam where the water was deep enough, but eventually, he returned to the shallows, where he could sit down to wash himself, the water just running over his legs.

He heard movement in the trees, in the branches that hung out over the water, nearly right above him. Hinata looked up—the branch was shaking, but he saw nothing there.

But that didn't mean he was alone. The deadliest jungle predators could also be the hardest to see. That was how they caught their prey.

A _snap_ made him turn his head, just barely. He kept his movements minimal as he looked towards the copse of trees nearest the bank where he'd left his clothes. He still couldn't see what it was. He weighed his options—he could stay in the water, but many of the animals knew how to swim. If he moved to land, he would be faster, but probably not fast enough to outrun a jaguar, or the like. But he could maybe make it back to the elephants, where few predators would be foolish enough to follow. There was a rustling again, and he gasped, pressing his hand to his mouth—

The hunter emerged at last—and Hinata stared, as it turned out to be the one he'd expected least.

"Tobio?"

The dark-haired man stepped out from the cover of the trees, looking guilty. He approached the edge of the bank and crouched down, blue eyes watching Hinata, and Hinata squirmed, feeling exposed, the water barely lapping at the small of his back. He stayed facing away from the bank where Tobio was waiting, even as he glared accusingly over his shoulder, cheeks burning.

"Sorry," Tobio said. "Scare you?"

"No!" Hinata said. "I knew it was you the whole time!"

Tobio rested his chin on the knuckles of one hand. "Lie."

"It is not a—" Hinata huffed, pushing his dripping hair off his forehead. "Fine, I didn't know it was you. But I wasn't _scared."_

"Okay," Tobio said, his lips quirking. "Not scared."

Aware he was being made fun of, Hinata crossed his arms. "Why were you _hiding?"_

"Hiding?"

"Oh, please, I know you know that word," Hinata said. Tobio hid things from him constantly. He thought it was funny. "So?"

Now it was Tobio's turn to squirm. "Wasn't… hiding. Was just…"

 _"Were_ you trying to scare me?" Hinata asked.

"No!" Tobio said. "Was… watching."

"Watching?" Hinata repeated, confused. "Watching what?"

Tobio looked away from him. His eyes wandered around the area, over everything but Hinata. He bit his lip, and then slowly turned his gaze back to the creek, and Hinata, eyes dark. Cheeks red.

It occurred to Hinata, then, how he must look—naked and completely vulnerable in the creek. And he'd seen all too much of Tobio, knew how impossible it was to look away from him, when the rains came—and the heavy droplets streamed over his bare skin in rivulets, dripping from the ends of his hair, just the way they traced over Hinata's arms and hips and legs now, following the curve of his back, where very little of him was hidden below the surface of the water.

"Tobio," Hinata said. Tobio blinked, but his eyes stayed very focused, low on Hinata's figure. "Were you watching me?" Tobio nodded. "Have you watched me before?"

A slight pause, before Tobio nodded again, his eyes straying downward, lips parting as he leaned forward, transfixed.

"It was… accident," Tobio said quietly, his voice rough. "Woke up, alone. Tobio was… scared that…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "But then, found Hinata here. And—" His fists were clenched tight on top of his thighs, but he hadn't yet looked away from Hinata. "Hinata said I didn't have to stop."

Hinata nodded. "I did say that."

With his back to Tobio, the wild man couldn't see how hard Hinata was—Hinata wasn't sure it would be fair to let Tobio know how much he was affected, without letting Tobio have what he wanted. But he also couldn't stand the look on Tobio's face, the worry and confusion that came with not understanding the things he was experiencing, even as he tried to shut his feelings away so he wouldn't lose Hinata.

Tobio groaned quietly. _"Can't_ stop."

"That's okay—" Hinata managed to say. His voice sounded high and breathless, even to his own ears. "Tobio, I'm going to finish—you can stay here, if you want."

"I want—" Tobio gasped, before breaking off.

 _What do you want,_ Hinata thought, and did not ask, because he knew. And when he chanced another brief glance over his shoulder, it was all too obvious.

One of Tobio's big hands had drifted between his thighs, and Hinata could see his cock, heavy between his legs—his stomach twisted with warm desire and he had to bite his own lip to keep from moaning as Tobio brushed his fingers over his shaft and shut his eyes, mouth dropping open.

Hinata faced forward again, pulse skyrocketing, hot all over. He hadn't known it was possible, to need someone as badly as he needed Tobio, but it was all he could do not to think about climbing onto him right there, taking Tobio inside his body, letting himself be stretched all the way down over his flushed, thick length.

He didn't know how to be anything like sexy—he always fell all over himself at the slightest prospect of anything romantic, had been called "cute" more times than he could count. But just imagining Tobio in him had his spine curving, knees and thighs spreading wide where he knelt in the water, as he cupped it in his hands to pour over himself. His hands moved almost like they didn't belong to him, as he washed himself, as he—unintentionally, maybe, no—he knew what he was doing, he _knew—_ touched himself the way he wanted to be touched. The way he knew Tobio would touch him, everywhere.

"Hinata—" he heard Tobio choke, as he slid his fingers down over his chest and stomach and then over the insides of his thighs. "Too much—"

He knew Tobio meant "close", and couldn't stop, trailed his fingers over the tip of his cock and brought a hand to his mouth as he shuddered in the cool water—and he heard Tobio cry out behind him before silencing himself into a low, desperate whine as he finished, gasping and panting.

Hinata pulled his hands away from his body with great difficulty—before he flung himself forward into the deeper water, plunging into the cool depths to submerge himself until he had to come up for air, and his temperature had cooled and he was no longer hard. When he poked his eyes above the water like a small crocodile, Tobio was staring at him. His eyes were sleepy, but he looked satisfied. Hinata wished he could say the same about himself.

"What Hinata doing?" Tobio asked.

"I don't _know!"_ Hinata wailed.

Tobio shrugged. "Hurry. Swing time now."

He was still teaching Hinata how to traverse the trees using the vines. Hinata was getting better at it, very slowly.

Hinata nodded and waded over to the bank. He didn't quite look at Tobio, though he couldn't help sneaking glances at him every few seconds. Tobio, on the other hand, had yet to look away from him once. His shyness had long faded, and now he stared curiously, head tilted as he observed Hinata climb out of the creek, eyes roaming over his body, intent.

It was only when Hinata reached for his clothes that a small crease appeared between Tobio's brows.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked him. Tobio shook his head slowly, but he still seemed contemplative. "Okay?"

Tobio nodded, climbing to his feet. He grabbed Hinata's hand. "Okay. We go now."

Hinata smiled as he linked their fingers together. "Lead on."

*

They were high up in the trees when the jungle downpour began, sudden and torrential, as was the usual way. It started with a flash of lightning, splitting the darkened sky; then the deep rumble of thunder, echoing over the treetops. And then, the approaching hiss of rain, as it fell heavily upon the leaves of the trees, the patter of the water more an endless, dull roar to Hinata's ears.

His clothes were drenched instantly, his hair plastered sopping wet to his forehead. He yelped at the swiftness of it all, more than the discomfort—the rain was warm on his skin, and after a moment, he started laughing.

It turned into a real yelp of momentary fright, moments later, when his grip on the vine in his hands slipped and loosened. But in seconds, there was a warm body pressed to his, an arm around his waist and hands securing him—Tobio would have never let him fall. He blinked down at Hinata, unfazed by the rain, as always. His bangs were plastered to his forehead, though most of it was tied back to keep it out of his face while swinging through the trees. On the next swing, he kept Hinata pressed close to his chest, catching onto a second vine one-handed while supporting them both, until Hinata had managed to wrap his legs and arms securely around him, so Tobio could use both hands.

"Now what?" Hinata called, over the thunder, looking up at him. "Where do we go?" They were miles from the treehouse.

Tobio didn't respond at first, continuing on his current path, until he could find purchase with his feet against one of the enormous tree trunks. He scaled the tree easily, Hinata clinging to him, until they had reached a hollow far above the rapidly flooding jungle floor. Tobio swung into it, and gently helped Hinata back onto his feet.

The little hollow was completely protected from the rain, and without the constant fall of water on him, Hinata's wet clothes quickly became too heavy, cold and sticking to him. After a moment's indecision, he started to unbutton his shirt, struggling to get out of the soaked cloth. Tobio eyed him from his space on the floor of the hollow.

"I think you've got the right idea here," Hinata told him, finally managing to yank the sleeves over his hands. He stripped off his undershirt as well, balling it up with his shirt on the floor. Then, with much less of a pause, he pulled off his sopping pants. His underwear, for the most part, was damp, but not soaked, so he left it on. Not that it mattered much at that point, or that Tobio would mind.

Hinata dropped onto the ground near him, sitting close. Even out of his wet clothes, the air was cooling from the rain, and it had started to get chillier. He shivered, slightly, wondering how long they'd be caught in the downpour.

Strong hands suddenly gripped his arms, and he jumped, turning to face Tobio. The tall man held up his hands in placation. Hinata breathed, and then grinned at him, to show it was alright.

Tobio frowned. "Sorry."

Hinata shook his head. "It's okay. What did you want?"

Tobio reached out for him again, pulling Hinata toward him, and Hinata let himself be shifted until he found himself sitting in the bigger man's lap. Tobio's arms slid around his waist, and the heat radiating off his bare skin seeped into Hinata's, lessening the chilly damp of the air. Hinata smiled, relaxing back into him, reveling in the warmth.

"Thanks."

Tobio rested his chin on top of Hinata's head, pointing at Hinata's discarded clothes. "Good."

"What's good?" Hinata asked, absentmindedly. He was distracted by Tobio's large hands, long fingers linked together at his waist. He traced over them until Tobio splayed his hands open, palms up, so Hinata could interlace their fingers. He was very used to being close to Tobio at this point, but it was the first time Hinata had ever been so similarly… naked.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Not that he was naked! He wasn't. He was just much _more_ naked than all the other times…

"Those are bad," Tobio said, of his clothes. "No more."

Hinata blinked up at him, surprised. "What? Why?"

"Now you and Tobio are the same."

"You and _me,_ " Hinata corrected. "When you talk about yourself, you say 'me'."

Tobio huffed in his hair. "Me say me?"

"No, then you'd say I." Tobio groaned and dropped his face into Hinata's hair, making Hinata laugh at the way it tickled when Tobio nuzzled against him. "Nevermind. I'm like the worst person to be teaching you this stuff, seriously…"

Tobio seemed to get over his frustration fairly quickly. Soon his curiosity took over as usual, and Hinata found himself being pushed forward ever so slightly as Tobio began to prod at him. Hinata rested his chin in his hands, well used to the other man's inquisitiveness.

"This is why you don't like the clothes," he said.

"Clothes are bad," Tobio agreed. "No clothes, good." He put his fingers against the base of Hinata's spine before tracing them lightly over all the ridges beneath his skin, up to the top of his neck.

Hinata sat bolt upright. Tobio pulled his hands away.

"Okay?" he asked softly.

Hinata took a breath. He should say no.

Because he shouldn't be huddled up with this man like this. He shouldn't have been caught in the rain, he shouldn't be in this tree, he shouldn't have ever left camp at all.

He shouldn't… He turned to look at Tobio, caught a glimpse of blue eyes under long black bangs, staring at him. Waiting. Hoping.

Why the hell _shouldn't_ he be giving Tobio everything he wanted, now, while they were together? Why couldn't he have Tobio, too?

"Okay," Hinata said. Tobio blinked, seeming for a moment too stunned to move, so Hinata reached up, fingers brushing over his cheeks. "It's okay, Tobio."

Tobio nodded, lips pressed together in a line that didn't quite manage to stay firm, his mouth wobbling into something that seemed like it was trying to be a smile, if only he was better at it. He leaned forward, and when he spoke, Hinata could feel his breath on the side of his neck.

"Gentle," Tobio murmured.

Hinata shivered, not so much from the cold, now. "You remember that one," he said, feeling pleased.

"Tobio remembers—"

 _"I_ remember…"

"I remember," Tobio corrected himself. "I remember… what Hi—what _you_ say." He laid his palms flat against Hinata's bare back, sliding them up to his shoulders. Hinata swallowed a sigh, leaning back instinctively into his touch.

"You always act like you're ignoring me," he said. "But you're not."

Tobio made a small noise that might have been agreement. Slowly, he brushed his palms over Hinata's bare shoulders, running his hands down his arms. "Sof… soft," he murmured, recalling the word. "Hinata is soft."

Hinata felt himself growing red. So far, Tobio had stuck to describing him as small, or stupid. He wasn't sure soft was the biggest improvement, but it at least made for some variety.

"We need to teach you better words for when you talk about me," Hinata told him, as Tobio lifted one of his arms up to better inspect it. "Hinata is handsome would be good. Or cool. Or brave—"

"Hinata is loud," Tobio said instantly, and Hinata turned to stare at him, mouth open.

 _"That's_ a new one," he said, too surprised to be indignant. He wasn't even sure he'd taught Tobio that—he seemed sometimes to remember on his own words he used to know and had forgotten.

Tobio smirked. "Tobio is smart."

"Don't get cocky, jungle boy," Hinata muttered.

"Hinata is loud," Tobio repeated, pressing his fingers to Hinata's mouth before he could protest. "Small." He slid his hands down to Hinata's waist and pulled him back closer, so his next words were spoken right in Hinata's ear. "Soft."

"Tobio…" Hinata whispered, unsure of what he wanted to say. There were things he _wanted_ to say, but—

"I like Hinata," the other man said quietly, as he skimmed his fingers low on Hinata's stomach hesitantly.

Hinata gasped, as much at the words as the feeling of Tobio touching him in such a sensitive area, hands on his skin. And now he knew what to do. He let his head fall back against the other man's shoulder, closing his eyes.

"I like Tobio," he said.

He opened his eyes. Tobio was staring down at him, his expression now intense and focused. He raised a hand to Hinata's face, pressing his palm to Hinata's cheek, thumb brushing over the lips he always seemed so fascinated by.

"I want Hinata," he said.

Hinata moaned before he could hold it back, and Tobio's eyelids fluttered, his blue eyes going dark. "I want you," Hinata breathed. "I want—"

He didn't need to say another word. Tobio dragged his fingers up over Hinata's stomach, indenting the flesh, touching, mapping him. Learning the give of his skin, the slant and curve of his body now that there was no cloth in between them. Hinata shuddered as steady fingers dipped down to the waistband of his underwear before sliding upwards again.

"Okay?" Tobio asked, voice low and hoarse, sending a spike of hot arousal straight through Hinata. He nodded senselessly—he couldn't be without this any longer, he couldn't, he _couldn't—_

"Yes—" He arched into Tobio's hands as the other man stroked up over his chest, palm gliding gently over his throat before trailing back down, brushing over one of his nipples. Hinata cried out.

"Bad," Tobio guessed instantly, hands stilling.

"Good," Hinata managed to say. "Good, good, _good—"_

Tobio learned quickly, picked up so fast on what Hinata wanted. He laid both hands on Hinata's chest, flicking his thumbs over the peaks of his nipples, and Hinata pressed a hand against his mouth to muffle his desperate groan. Tobio pried it away.

"No," he said. "Loud is good."

"What if—" Hinata gasped, as Tobio pinched his nipples, making his whole body jerk. "What if something hears—" He still wasn't quite ready to forget about the dangers of the jungle just yet.

Tobio growled softly, pulling him closer, folding his body over Hinata's smaller frame. "Safe here," he said. "With me."

Vaguely, with soft, fuzzy heat filling up every corner of his body, Hinata realized he was done for. Had been since he had first locked eyes with Tobio, weeks and weeks ago.

He reached up, sliding his hand around the back of Tobio's neck, and Tobio came willingly as Hinata tugged him into a hard, eager kiss.

Tobio whimpered against his mouth, soft and shocked.

Hinata pulled away immediately, realizing his mistake. Of course, Tobio had never kissed anyone before—he didn't even know what it was.

"Tobio," Hinata said, unsure how to explain. "Sorry, I—"

Before he could even try, Tobio pulled him up in his arms, pressing his lips to Hinata's again. It was clumsy, and inaccurate, and confused—but he'd understood.

Hinata pressed his hands to Tobio's face, pushing forward into the messy kiss. He combed his fingers into Tobio's long hair, sliding it undone from the knotted vine tying it back to tangle his fingers in the still damp strands, tongue slipping inside of Tobio's mouth when the other man parted his lips. Tobio gasped.

"What is it?" he asked. His voice was shaking.

"Kiss," Hinata told him. "This is a kiss. Good?" Tobio nodded fervently, and Hinata grinned and kissed him again, and again—lingering, hot, wet kisses, long and deep.

And then Tobio slid his hands lower again, the warmth of his touch resting solidly over the front of Hinata's underwear, and Hinata groaned, pushing up into his hand without shame. "It's okay," he said, before Tobio could even ask. "There, there—"

He glanced down, moaning quietly as he watched Tobio push the waistband of his briefs over his hips, sliding his hand down the shaft of Hinata's cock, rubbing him firmly before taking him in hand. Tobio held his shaking body tightly, Hinata's back pressed to his chest, as Tobio started to stroke him hard and full, and Hinata choked out a cry, hands clutching at the other man's firm thighs, fingers pressing hard enough to leave bruises.

"Good?" Tobio asked him, his voice quiet and awed as Hinata came apart under his hands.

 _"So_ good," Hinata sobbed. "Tobio, Tobi— _yes—"_

"Hinata," Tobio moaned in his ear, and Hinata realized he was rutting against him from below, hips picking up speed. "Hinata… want—kiss—"

Hinata turned toward him and Tobio took his mouth, desperate and uncoordinated, and Hinata returned the kiss with an equal lack of finesse, mouth fallen open as Tobio licked at his teeth and tongue, biting the soft flesh of his bottom lip.

Tobio pulled his hand over Hinata's cock, tugging over the tip, and Hinata keened.

"You're gonna make me—" he started to say, shocked. "You—you're—"

Thirty feet above the jungle floor, with the rain falling softly onto the greenery around them, the air thick with the calls of unknown animals taking shelter in the trees, Hinata came—to the sound of rolling thunder, gasping and panting Tobio's name in absolute bliss, like this was the most natural thing in the world.

He felt Tobio shudder under him, felt more than heard him moan as he rolled his hips up roughly against Hinata when he finished, before he slumped heavily back against the tree hollow, chest heaving, looking dazed. Hinata turned slowly, his limbs feeling like jelly.

"Hey," he said, looking at Tobio. Tobio stared back at him. He put a hand against Hinata's cheek again, and Hinata covered it with his own.

"Happy," Tobio said, his face as serious as ever. Hinata smiled.

"Me?" he asked. "Or you?"

Tobio closed his eyes. "Both."

Hinata nodded, lowering himself down to Tobio's chest, curling up against the tall man as the sound of the rain filled the space all around them.

"Both," he repeated, and felt endlessly satisfied with the world at large.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [Majesticartax](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Majesticartax/pseuds/Majesticartax) for giving me... a little boost on bringing the flower back in <3 
> 
> RC's art for this chapter can be found [right here](https://reallyporning.tumblr.com/post/158819767844/the-heart-of-the-jungle-chapter-3-by-esselley)! The end of this chapter was the first scene I ever wrote for this fic, and lord, did she nail that scene <3
> 
> [[@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the midpoint...! Thank you all endlessly for the support on this fic, it means so much <3 Speaking of which, some wonderful art people have drawn!! 
> 
> These [two](http://esselley.tumblr.com/post/158828282339/kingkageyamatobio-the-heart-of-the-jungle-by) [cute](http://esselley.tumblr.com/post/158836715259/kingkageyamatobio-im-having-a-real-hard-time) pieces by king-kageyamatobio 
> 
> Anchan [drew a portrait](http://esselley.tumblr.com/post/158892357889/an-chan-thevolleyballplayer-hinata-and-tobio-of) of Hinata and a curious Tobio!
> 
> Possiblyanintellectualbeing even included all Tobio's [knicknacks](http://esselley.tumblr.com/post/159029675254/possiblydraws-ok-so-everyo-ne-has-to-read) <3
> 
> and Ruukipurado drew [the most hilarious expressionless Tobio](http://esselley.tumblr.com/post/159080274304/i-had-to-do-it-after-reading-esselley-s-tarzan) learning how to thumbs up!!!
> 
> Thank you so much you guys, this is overwhelmingly nice!! And now, to hopefully pay you back for your kindness... onward to the new chapter!

Hinata stood on the bank of the river, just bathed, hair dripping water over his bare shoulders. His pants he'd already put back on, but his shirt, which had been set on the grass next to the river, had disappeared. He'd searched the surrounding area already, twice, but it was nowhere to be found. The mystery, however, was a short-lived one, as it appeared the culprits had been spotted.

"The _monkeys_ took it?" he asked, tone ranging between shock and disbelief.

Tobio, seated cross-legged in the grass next to the river, combed his fingers through his hair distractedly to work out any knots. He shrugged noncommittally. "Tobio saw them. Three. Little mean ones."

"Well—" Hinata spluttered, stomping closer. Tobio seemed wholly unconcerned with the predicament of his lost shirt. "Why didn't you stop them?!"

"Too fast," Tobio said, making a vague motion with his hands. "Couldn't catch."

Hinata groaned, feet dragging as he meandered over to where Tobio sat. He slumped once he reached the other man, sprawling into the grass, plopping his cheek sorrowfully onto Tobio's knee. Tobio glanced down at him, then away again. Hinata rolled his face against his leg.

"I thought you were supposed to be the master of the jungle," he mumbled, lips pressed to the crease where Tobio's knee folded. "You can't even fight off a bunch of little monkeys?"

Tobio snorted. "Little _mean_ ones," he repeated, but he lowered a hand to brush his fingers through Hinata's hair. "It's not bad."

"Hnn…" Hinata murmured. He could argue further, but, why bother… why bother when the sun was so warm on his back, and Tobio's fingers felt so nice in his hair? "Why's it not bad?"

Warm fingers stroked his hair a moment longer, before grazing the back of his neck, and over his shoulders. Hinata turned his head as the taller man bent low over him, grinning as Tobio got closer. When Tobio paused right above him, he picked up his head, neck craned, lips pursed. Tobio leaned even closer, close enough that their lips were touching—

Hinata squawked indignantly as the other man shifted out from under him, pushing his face down into the grass. Hinata spat out a few stray blades and rolled upright, incensed.

"You _asshole—"_

Tobio squashed Hinata's face between his hands and kissed him. After a few seconds, probably to make sure Hinata wasn't attempting to lure him into a false sense of security before retaliating, he softened his grip, palms resting lightly on Hinata's cheeks, thumbs stroking softly over his cheekbones.  

Hinata's tirade was instantly sidelined. He'd stopped pretending he wanted to resist his feelings for Tobio, but he still wanted to take things very slowly. Tobio hadn't so much as hinted at wanting more from him, hadn't said a word about wanting to try again. Hinata knew Tobio was as eager for it as he himself was. But he also knew that he wanted to be careful with Tobio, not rush things. He wanted the other man to understand how he felt, no matter what happened months down the line. So they hadn't done much, even after the rain drenched episode in the tree hollow.

But they had done quite a lot of kissing. And Tobio was becoming distressingly good at it.

Hinata's arms dropped limply to his sides as he shuffled forward unsteadily on his knees, gasping softly against Tobio's lips. Tobio leaned back slightly and Hinata tumbled forward into his arms, for Tobio to run his hands over his bare back, lips warm as he pressed them fleetingly to Hinata's mouth, over and over, dipping his tongue inside. Hinata shivered in the humid air.

"This," Tobio clarified, fingers dragging slowly down Hinata's sides. "Good. Not bad."

Hinata nodded, sliding his arms around Tobio's waist so he could pull himself closer, pressed against the other man's broad chest. "Yeah, fine. I brought another one, anyway."

Tobio pulled back to look at him. "Hinata has more?"

"One." Hinata shrugged. "I'll have to make it last." He grinned at Tobio and the other man tugged hard on his bangs, making Hinata wince. "What was that for?"

"Stupid," was all Tobio said. "Up—vines, now."

"Aw, Tobio," Hinata whined, but allowed himself to be dragged to his feet.

The issue of the stolen clothing was not resolved there, however. After a few more days had passed, his second shirt had disappeared as well, after which followed the only pair of pants he'd brought with him to the treehouse, taken right out from under his nose in the night while he and Tobio were sleeping.

"How did they even know where to look?" Hinata wailed the next morning, stomping around the treehouse so heavily that the whole thing shook slightly. "Have they done this to you before?"

"Don't remember," Tobio said. "Monkeys don't like clothes. Too…" He gestured vaguely.

"Too what?" Hinata demanded.

"Don't know the word," Tobio said. "But not from here. Don't belong. Monkeys don't steal this." He pointed at his loincloth.

"Loincloths don't grow on trees," Hinata snapped. "That doesn't belong here, either."

Tobio frowned at him and then turned away, focusing his attention on the handmade fishing pole he was stringing. Hinata sighed.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he said, and Tobio's head angled slightly towards him again, though his eyes stayed on his fishpole. "I just… what am I supposed to even wear, now?"

"Wear clothes like me," Tobio said. "Better."

"I don't have clothes like—" Hinata said, and then cut off. Suddenly, it dawned on him; Tobio's abject fascination with his bare skin, the way he'd been much happier when Hinata had pulled off his sopping wet clothes after the rains had caught them. He stared at Tobio's back. "The monkeys in this jungle…" he said slowly, "they're diurnal."

"Don't know word," Tobio grunted. He got annoyed, sometimes, when Hinata used words he didn't understand without explaining them. Hinata stayed quiet this time, however.

He didn't quite want to explain to Tobio yet that it didn't make any sense that _monkeys_ had taken his clothes in the night, since all the species of monkey native to the rainforest in that area were only active during the day.

Instead, he tiptoed up behind Tobio, and flung his arms around the other man's neck without warning. Tobio jumped, huffing in surprise.

"Hey, I have an idea," Hinata said into his ear.

"What?" Tobio grumbled. But his annoyance faded, chest hitching under Hinata's hands, as Hinata slid them over his broad torso, fingers trailing low on his abdomen.

"Tonight," he breathed, drawing circles on Tobio's skin, feeling his muscles tighten and jump, "why don't we stay up and watch for them?"

"The…" Tobio started to say, voice trailing off as Hinata rubbed his fingers under the strings of his loincloth at his hips, over the slightly indented lines the ties left behind. "The monkeys," Tobio finished vaguely, eyes fluttering closed.

"Mm-hm…" Hinata hummed, unable to keep himself from smiling as he nipped Tobio's earlobe between his teeth. Tobio groaned softly. "What's wrong?"

"You—" The other man's forehead wrinkled as he thought hard over something. "T-teasing?"

Hinata accused him often of teasing, which Tobio did whenever Hinata's city boy ways made him less than an expert at things, like imitating bird calls or vine swinging or catching snakes with his bare hands. Hinata grinned outright.

"Oh, yeah," he murmured, nuzzling his nose against the nape of Tobio's neck. "Definitely."

Tobio turned, craning his neck to try and face him. "Kiss."

"Nope," Hinata said, pulling away. "We have lots to do today, Tobio! We need to get a move on."

"But—"

Hinata pressed a finger to his mouth. "If you're patient," he said, watching Tobio go slightly cross-eyed as he looked down in surprise at the finger silencing him, then back up at Hinata, "then I'll let you do whatever you want later."

Tobio's lips parted slightly in eagerness. "Anything?"

Hinata nodded. "Anything."

Tobio's eyes took on a calculating gleam. He sprang nimbly to his feet and looked down at Hinata appraisingly, clearly deliberating on everything this entailed.

"I will kiss you a _lot,_ " he finally announced, perfectly coherently, and Hinata pressed a hand to his mouth as he struggled not to burst out laughing.

"Holding you to it, jungle boy," he said, as he hopped to his feet to follow Tobio out the window. There was no real need for Tobio to help him down to the ground, anymore; not when Hinata was getting so good at using the treetops to soar.

In truth, Hinata didn't have a _lot_ planned for the day. There was one thing he'd been meaning to do for a long time, however, and now seemed a good opportunity to finally try. It involved a lot of fairly intimate touching, and where before he'd been hesitant about Tobio not understanding what he was doing, now they were both at ease, and on the same page.

"Stop… moving…" Hinata muttered, frowning in concentration.

They were down by the river where the elephants roamed about. Zou was nearby, having just acted as Hinata's first subject.

"Trying," Tobio said, exasperated. "What are you _doing?"_

"I told you," Hinata said. He currently had Tobio bent sideways at the waist, so Hinata could reach comfortably to stretch an old measuring tape around the circumference of his head. "I just want to get your measurements. The elephant was very good about this, weren't you, Zou?"

Zou trumpeted into the air happily, and Tobio frowned.

"What does it do?" he asked, as Hinata finally let him stand up straight again. He looked down inquisitively as Hinata jotted something down in his notebook. Next he stretched the tape across the width of Tobio's chest (impressive), before measuring from shoulder to wrist.

"It's for research," Hinata told him. With Tobio's adaptation to the jungle, it would be interesting to see how his lifestyle had impacted his body. This was one hundred percent for research, and not because Hinata was extremely interested in just how… large Tobio was.

"What is… research?" Tobio wondered.

"That's what I do," Hinata said. He encircled Tobio's waist with the tape, took down the numbers, before ducking down to measure the length of his legs. "You talk to the elephants and protect your part of the jungle. And I research things." He raised his head and found his face was level with Tobio's loincloth. "Ah."

Was this pertinent, to his research? Maybe not strictly speaking… though there was no reason _not_ to measure Tobio's—well, other than propriety's sake, maybe. Should he ask? It seemed rude to just do it, though Tobio's reactions to Hinata's hands being anywhere near this area had so far been extremely positive, to put it mildly. Hinata felt his face getting a bit hot, and bit his lip.

He'd be lying to himself if he said he _didn't_ want to find out. It was incredibly difficult not to notice, what with the whole loincloth situation. There was certainly not a lot of coverage, and Hinata had become very familiar with _it—_ the size and okay, possibly, the color, and the coarse black hair dusted around the base, and—

"Hina… ta?" Tobio asked. Hinata looked up at him.

"Oh," he said.

Tobio was staring, a red flush creeping over his chest, his cheeks. Not out of embarrassment—he didn't know to be embarrassed over these things, after all. He was breathing harder than usual, and his eyes were lidded, pupils blown and dark.

"Why do you keep looking…" Tobio said quietly, "at my penis?"

Hinata blinked at him, then put his face in his hands. They had barely gone beyond rubbing against each other while they kissed. Hinata wasn't sure how to broach the topic of groin proximity.

"I'm a terrible person," he muttered.

"I don't mind it if you look," Tobio told him. This was very much evidenced by the fact that he was getting steadily harder under Hinata's embarrassed gaze. Tobio licked his lips, anxiously. "But do we have to wait? For tonight?"

Leave it to Tobio to just say what he wanted. Hinata smiled, laying his cheek against Tobio's thigh and felt the strong muscle twitch under him.

"It's not that much longer," he told the other man. His words carried his breath over Tobio's cock, and Tobio huffed, breathing unsteady. He slid a hand into Hinata's hair and Hinata rolled his eyes back up to look at him, speaking against his warm skin. "You're okay, right?"

He wasn't sure what he was checking on. But he didn't want to torment Tobio too much, or make him uncomfortable.

"Mm-hm," Tobio nodded. "Just…" He grimaced a bit, pushing his hand down futilely over his cock where it was determinedly peeking out from under the covering he wore.

Hinata decided it was time to stop the teasing. But first, very quickly…

He whipped the tape measure back up. Tobio jerked in surprise as it brushed his cock, but Hinata was already pulling back.

"Got it!" he said cheerfully. "Wow."

That number, he wrote at the bottom of the page in the corner, without any labels. He wasn't likely to forget what that measurement was.

It seemed to take forever for the sun to finally begin to lower below the horizon. But soon, with the moon completely risen in the star-studded sky, white-blue shafts of light spilling into the treehouse, Hinata realized he'd neglected to teach Tobio something of great importance.

Hinata lay sprawled on the soft furs, chest and legs bare. Not sleepy yet, but hazy and soft, pleased. And very well-kissed. His lips felt almost too sensitive, were probably quite swollen by now, and yet Tobio didn't want to stop, mouth warm and firm and inviting as ever, even though he was in the same state. He pulled away to breathe with a louder than necessary gasp—something he did every time he needed air—and Hinata watched him fondly as he caught his breath. He looked almost unreal, with the moonlight falling across his shoulders, hair spilling loose from where he'd tied it back, thanks to Hinata pushing his hands into it, fingers tugging and twisting in the dark strands.

His lips were so red, and Hinata touched his fingers to them, feeling the heated skin. Tobio stared at him, eyes lidded, before he leaned back in again eagerly, ready for more. Hinata put a hand on his chest and he stopped, eyes questioning.

"Tobio…" Hinata murmured, "did you know that you can kiss other places? Besides here." He tapped his mouth.

Tobio's brow furrowed. "Lie…" he said, looking dubious.

"I am not!" Hinata protested. "I'll prove it, but then you owe me, okay?"

"Owe what?" Tobio asked skeptically.

"You decide," Hinata said.

Tobio narrowed his eyes at him. He shifted against Hinata, suddenly, rolling their hips together. Hinata gasped, back arching. The whole day, he'd been aware of Tobio's eyes on him, on his nearly naked body, watching him ceaselessly. Whenever he'd made eye contact, the other man hadn't looked away, and he wasn't looking away now, staring challengingly down at Hinata as he said, quietly,

"Hinata already said. Anything."

Hinata nodded, without complaint. He'd meant it, wanted to find out what Tobio would do. But first, Hinata wanted to expand his horizons, a little.

He slipped his arm around Tobio's neck and pulled himself upright. Then, coaxing, he pushed against Tobio's shoulder, until the taller man reclined, lying back so their positions were reversed, Hinata lying on top of him.

"You want to do anything?" he whispered, now that Tobio was looking up at him, and paying very close attention. Tobio nodded, eyes unblinking. Hinata leaned close to him, voice still so soft, he thought Tobio might have stopped breathing to hear him. He touched his lips lightly to Tobio's. "Then did you know? We can kiss each other everywhere."

He turned his head, pressing his lips lightly to the hinge of Tobio's jaw. Tobio made a small noise of surprise.

"What?" he asked, part suspicion, part curiosity.

"Exactly what I said," Hinata reassured him. He brushed his lips underneath Tobio's ear, before moving lower, kissing the side of his neck. Tobio had gone completely still under him. "Anywhere you want. Anywhere you can think of, Tobio."

He reached the dip where Tobio's neck met his shoulder, kissed it, before sucking at the skin there without warning, tongue running over Tobio's skin, tasting salt and rain. Tobio shuddered, a jolt Hinata felt shake his whole body, and Hinata reached for one of his hands and squeezed it tight.

"Hinata—" he said, voice choked, "didn't—didn't know—"

Hinata raised his head to kiss his mouth again, and his cheeks, too. Tobio's eyes were barely open, lips parted, yearning.

"That's not your fault," Hinata told him, brushing light fingers over his mouth. Tobio pressed the smallest of kisses to them, like he was testing the new knowledge Hinata had given him. Hinata smiled, raising Tobio's hand to his lips to return the favor. "Your turn in a bit. Mine, now, 'cuz you owe me."

Tobio nodded, and no protest came, this time. He lay there, letting Hinata's mouth and hands roam, twisting his fingers helplessly against the soft bed. Hinata kissed his collarbone and his throat, smoothed his hands down Tobio's front, hesitating for a second, before he threw the notion of taking it slow to the winds. He trailed his nose down the middle of Tobio's breastbone, leaving fleeting kisses along the way, before flattening his tongue against the hard muscles of Tobio's abdomen, running it slow and wet over the grooves.

Tobio gasped, the sound catching in his throat, strangled and broken off. One of his big hands fell heavily on Hinata's shoulder, squeezing, before he dragged it over the back of his neck, into his hair.

The noises he made alone were enough to make Hinata's head swim, low, soft, throaty moans he couldn't and didn't try to hold back. He seemed so overwhelmed by so little, until Hinata remembered how much he ached for the slightest, smallest hint of contact, and then his utter captivation with Hinata's mouth. This must be so _much_ for him to process.

He kissed his way back up Tobio's body, pulling himself up to look at Tobio's face again. The other man blinked, eyes fluttering open, trying to focus on him.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked him. After a second, Tobio nodded slowly. "Do you want to take your turn now?" Maybe it would be better to let Tobio take the lead.

"Y-yes," Tobio said. He sounded nervous, but asked, "Hinata, lie down?"

Hinata did as requested, waiting quietly as Tobio propped himself up, scooting closer to him. His eyes trailed over Hinata's body, and Hinata knew he saw the way his underwear had tented, the damp spot expanding over the front. He looked back to catch Hinata's eyes.

"You say stop," he told Hinata. "If…"

"It'll be okay," Hinata said, instantly.

Tobio had learned to be so careful, now, always gentle when he needed to be. Hinata had no doubts that the other man wouldn't hurt him or do anything wrong, but when Tobio reached out slowly, he paused, fingers outstretched and hovering. Hinata finally couldn't wait any longer.

"Tobio," he whispered, and the man's eyes snapped back to look into his own. "Touch me, _please."_

Tobio let out a little noise like a whine and buried a hand in Hinata's hair, ducking down to kiss him once, hard, on the mouth. But he didn't linger there. He moved on, for the first time, to touch his lips to Hinata's chin and cheeks, his nose, his forehead. He kissed Hinata's ear, and then did it again, when Hinata hummed happily.

"Ah…" Hinata sighed, as Tobio moved lower, breath warm on his neck as he trailed his lips there. "That's good, Tobio, there is good…"

Tobio pushed his face into the crook of Hinata's shoulder, imitating him. "I like…" he panted, in between nipping and sucking at Hinata's skin, "making Hinata feel—"  

"You do," Hinata told him, high and breathless. "You make me— _ah, ah, Tobio—"_

Tobio had remembered, clearly, how he'd reacted to his nipples being touched, had moved lower to start tentatively rubbing his mouth over each of them. Hinata's fingers tangled in his hair, torn between pulling and pushing him closer.

"Tobio—u-use—" Hinata cut himself off with a whimper. He didn't want to demand, he wanted Tobio to be comfortable—

Tobio raised his head to look at him, expression dazed, like he was having a harder time than Hinata. "Teach… me—"

Hinata moaned. "Your tongue. Use—oh, _god,_ oh, yes—"

Clumsily, earnestly, Tobio ran his tongue over his chest, flicking against his nipples as they grew pink and pointed.

"Both—you can do both—" Hinata panted, then giggled breathlessly when Tobio's brow scrunched in confusion as he tried to lick between each of them rapidly. "No, fingers for one—"

Tobio thumped lightly on his chest. "Okay, I get it," he said, sounding put out about Hinata laughing at him. This only made Hinata laugh harder, but it dissolved into a moan as Tobio proved he did, in fact, understand.

"You get it—" Hinata panted. He twisted his fingers in Tobio's hair and the other man growled, but not in pain or warning.

The deep sound made Hinata's hips roll, press up hard against Tobio's, made him sob, desperate. Some small part of him wanted to laugh—wasn't he supposed to be the one with restraint? That was nothing more than wishful thinking at this point.

"Hinata, is it—" Tobio started to say. He'd backed off when Hinata had moved under him.

"M-more—" Hinata begged him. "Tobio, _anything—"_

He didn't know what else he could ask Tobio for, but the other man was already shifting, hands sliding lower, fingers hooking into Hinata's underwear to pull it slowly all the way off his legs, allowing his cock to bob free. For a moment, he just stared at Hinata, all of him, naked and needy. Hinata nodded, no words coming to him—but then Tobio moved down further, lowering himself until his face was level with Hinata's cock.

"Oh—I—"  Hinata swallowed, as he realized what Tobio wanted to try. "You don't… that's—"

"Hinata said 'anything'," Tobio said. He was staring, unabashedly, at Hinata's cock. He licked his lips and Hinata felt any last remnants of resolve to deter him crumble. "Said Tobio could kiss… anywhere."

"Yeah," Hinata whispered, right before Tobio went straight for it, burying his nose in the soft groove near Hinata's hip, tongue sliding in long stripes, before he dragged his lips up the side of Hinata's shaft, his cheeks flushing a deep, dark red.

"Hinata…" he groaned, name humming from his lips right under the head of Hinata's cock, before he licked it, tongue flicking off the tip. "Smells good…"

Hinata thudded his head against the bedding under him, toes curling, heat rising—he could feel sweat starting to bead off his skin in earnest now, was so _hot—_ _"Fuck."_

"What?" Tobio's voice sounded curious, as curious as the lips he closed over the tip of Hinata's cock, to suck gently on it.

"N-nothing…" Hinata moaned. Tobio had probably never heard him swear so much before. Lots of new words to learn. "I'll explain that… l-later."

"Fine," Tobio allowed, likely because he was too focused on other things, as he began experimenting to see how much of Hinata's cock he could take in his mouth before it became uncomfortable.

"Oh, no, oh no—" Hinata huffed, one hand dropping down to tug at Tobio's hair. "That's— _shit—_ " Try as he might, he _couldn't_ stop his hips from jerking, and Tobio choked, shooting him an annoyed glance. "Don't _glare_ at me, I'm trying to—"

Tobio grunted around him and pushed him down forcefully with one hand, pinning him to the bed. This, if anything, only made matters worse for Hinata, now hyperaware of how strong Tobio was, his fingers gripping at Hinata's hips as he slid his lips in a tight circle down around Hinata's cock. He wondered if Tobio could feel him twitching, precum leaking on his tongue, and keened.

"Tobio—" he gasped, "you can stop—you should—or I'll—"

He tried to crane his neck to see what Tobio was doing, but the other man was ignoring him, running his tongue over Hinata, eyes squeezed shut. His free hand was down, in between his legs, and Hinata could see his arm moving, realized he was working his own cock as he sucked Hinata's. Hinata felt the tension in him pull him nearly to breaking, as he saw how much Tobio was enjoying it, how excited he was to pleasure Hinata, and Hinata knew he had to warn him, make him listen, somehow—

"G-get off—" he begged. "Tobio, I'm g-gonna come—don't swallow it—"

Tobio listened, at last, to the direct plea to stop, but then stared up at him, his eyes wide and confused. "I want to."

That was it, Hinata realized, but Tobio was still looking innocently right at him, and he'd be directly in the path—with a strangled cry, he pushed himself upright and managed to press his palm over Tobio's eyes right as he orgasmed, very messily, over the other man's lips and chin and the back of his own hand.

"Did it get in your eyes?" Hinata asked anxiously, taking his hand away from Tobio's face now that it was safe, to see his bewildered, blue-eyed stare.

"N-no—" Tobio said, voice softer. He wiped his hand over the back of his mouth. "Did—you're angry?"

Hinata blinked at him before breathing a sigh of relief. "Sorry," he managed to say, shuddering as his cock gave one last weak pulse. "Come—come here."

Tobio crawled higher up on the bed to lie next to him, and Hinata wiped away most of the residue on his face with his fingers.

"I did something wrong?" Tobio asked, less nervous, still wondering.

"No…" Hinata said. "But this stuff you do _not_ want in your eyes. Other than that…" He dropped a hand down to stroke Tobio, his cock hot and hard and slick in Hinata's hand from his prolonged arousal. Tobio sucked in a breath, wrapping his arms around Hinata and burying his face in Hinata's hair. "Other than that, it was amazing."

Tobio shuddered out a breath. "I wanted to _see."_

"You'd be more mad at me if I ejaculated right in your eyes," Hinata said, still catching his breath. He tilted his head back, coming nose to nose with Tobio, and smiled. "Next time you can watch."

"Hnnn…" Tobio breathed, eyes sliding shut as he pressed his forehead hard against Hinata's, body tensing, his fingers indenting firmly where he had them held to Hinata's skin. "Ah—Hinata, too much—"

"That's okay," Hinata told him, as Tobio curled in on himself, crushing Hinata to his chest. Warmth spilled over Hinata's fingers as Tobio shook, breath leaving him unsteadily in low, harsh pants as he finished. "It's fine, I've got you. You're fine."

Tobio was quiet for a long moment, arms loosening their hold, though Hinata stayed right where he was, pressed against him, face still upturned to watch Tobio's expression relax into contentment.

"Amazing…" Tobio repeated, finally. "That means… better than good."

"Look at you," Hinata said, "using context clues." Tobio pressed their noses together, maybe sensing Hinata's smugness, and Hinata closed his eyes, prepared for another kiss. But it didn't come right away.

"So many things," Tobio murmured, and Hinata opened his eyes to look at him again. Tobio was staring at him, his eyes soft, expression thoughtful. "So many things I didn't know. Before Hinata."

"Like what?" Hinata asked him.

Tobio pressed his lips to Hinata's eyelids, the bridge of his nose, his cheeks, all over his face, until Hinata started laughing, and was silenced, finally, by a deep, slow kiss that stole his breath away long before Tobio pulled back.

"That I could feel this," Tobio told him. "Amazing."

 _Yes, you are,_ Hinata thought.

*

The next morning, Hinata's underwear had gone missing. Tobio was similarly absent, and after a few minutes of lying lazily in bed, Hinata sat up, feeling confused as he rubbed at his eyes. It was rare that he woke up after Tobio, and he padded barefoot and naked around the treehouse to look through its various windows. He felt surprisingly unexposed—he was comfortable, now, wandering around in whatever state of undress he felt like, and it wouldn't matter in the least to anything that lived out there.

Well, perhaps it mattered, to one other person.

He heard the thump of footfalls on a tree branch, and turned to see Tobio pulling himself back into the treehouse. He looked startled to see Hinata already waiting for him, and quickly put whatever he was carrying behind his back.

"Already awake?" he asked, awkwardly.

"Where were you?" Hinata asked, hopping over the bed toward him. Tobio took a step backwards. "I woke up alone, that's no fun, Tobio."

"Wasn't gone long," Tobio said, exasperated. He shifted, angling his back toward the wall, and Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"What are you hiding?" Hinata asked.

"Hiding?"

"What's behind your back?"

Hinata jumped to the side and Tobio spun, trying to dodge as Hinata flailed his arms around him, grasping for whatever the secret was.

"Hinata!" he yelled, when Hinata launched himself into Tobio's stomach in a particularly reckless dive that nearly sent them both tumbling out of one of the windows. "Stop!"

Hinata beamed at him. "What's the big secret?"

Tobio took a deep breath and pulled his hands out from behind his back. He held them out, so Hinata could see what he was holding.

"Is this…" Hinata asked, as he took the object from Tobio, "a… loincloth?"

He held it up, and saw that it was, indeed. It was like the one Tobio wore, palm leaf chaff weathered by stones and water until it had become soft and brown.

"Tobio—" Tobio said, loudly, before his face colored pink and he looked away. "I lied. Again."

Hinata brushed a hand over the soft material. "About the monkeys?"

Tobio frowned. "You knew."

Hinata snorted. "Nobody in this jungle cares about my clothes as much as you do."

Tobio's expression scrunched, and he made a grab for Hinata, who darted out of the way. He made it as far as to the bed before Tobio caught him, dragging him back to kiss him—and prove a point, maybe, hands sliding over Hinata's bare body, over the small of his back and the curve of his ass. He sat back on his heels, so Hinata, on his knees, could look down at him, brushing his hair out of his face to see his eyes clearly.

"Like this is best," Tobio said. He reached out, tugging the loincloth from Hinata's fingers. "This is okay, too."

"As long as you approve of it," Hinata teased.

Tobio tied the two strings around his waist carefully, not too tight, but snug enough that it wouldn't slip off. He surveyed his handiwork. "Now," he finally pronounced, "you belong."

Hinata cupped his face in his hands and Tobio looked up at him, face pleased. "Thank you," Hinata told him.

"Want old clothes back, too?" Tobio asked.

Hinata shrugged. "Forget them," he said, and was rewarded with an actual, real smile.

*

"So I come see camp with you," Tobio said over his shoulder to Hinata.

"What? No," Hinata said. "That's a terrible idea."

"We will get more flashlights," Tobio continued on, as if he hadn't heard him. "You get me all the flashlights."

"That's… no," Hinata said. "First of all, give up on the flashlights. I already told you I can't just steal everyone else's flashlights. Second, I can't just stroll into camp with some huge, naked… attractive… man. The loincloth is already strange enough."

He wasn't entirely sure how he was going to explain that.

They were on their way back to the camp, for Hinata to check in with the others, if they still cared, whether or not he was alive. This time, they were talking openly to one another, Hinata holding snugly to Tobio's back. He could have made the journey by himself now, or at least didn't need Tobio to carry him, but the other man had seemed especially nervous that morning, try as he might not to show it. He had seemed more relieved when Hinata asked to be carried, making up some excuse about faster travel time.

Tobio had still been silent when they first started out, but Hinata made it a point to trace his collarbone with gentle fingers every once in awhile, brush his lips over the backs of Tobio's shoulders, and the other man finally started to relax, then to talk.

"Why?" Tobio asked.

Hinata didn't entirely feel up to explaining the many reasons why, so instead he said, "I promise I won't be long."

"Not worried about that," Tobio said, somewhat huffily.

"Then what?" Hinata asked. "I thought you didn't even like other people, or loud noises, or—"

"Want to know more," Tobio said. "I want… to know more."

"About what?" Hinata asked.

"People," Tobio told him. "You."

"Oh!" Hinata said, and then felt stupid. "Right. Of course you—okay."

They were getting close to the camp, now, and Tobio let his grip on the vines slacken, dropping lower and lower until his last swing brought them straight to the ground. He landed lightly and Hinata released his hold, stumbling a bit as he dropped to the grass. Tobio spun instantly, catching him around the waist.

Hinata smiled at his intense expression. "I'm alright, my legs were just falling asleep."

Tobio tilted his head. "How do they do that?" he asked, staring down curiously at Hinata's legs.

"It's just a saying," Hinata said, patting his arms.

Tobio plopped into the grass, cross-legged, sliding his hands against the backs of Hinata's legs. He was still peering quite suspiciously.

"Are they sleepy right now?" he asked, craning his head forward to kiss Hinata's knee.

"No…" Hinata said, sliding his hands onto Tobio's shoulders as Tobio darted a quick glance up at him, before forcing his stance apart a little wider, so he could press his lips to the inside of his thighs, before he bit down, lightly. "You seem to know me pretty well already," Hinata sighed, letting his head fall back. They were still a ways away from the campsite. If Tobio wanted him… if he wanted Hinata right here…

But the other man stopped, tugging at Hinata's hands until Hinata came down to his level, sitting in his lap. Tobio shook his head.  

"I don't…" he started to say, then stopped. "Not that."

"What do you—"

"Not just touching you," Tobio murmured.

Hinata blinked, and then waved his hands frantically at Tobio. "No, no, no," he said, "I didn't—sorry, that was a joke, I know you don't—"

"I want—" Tobio's expression turned ever more severe as he continued trying to explain to Hinata what he meant. "Want to understand. Understand Hinata better."

"I know that," Hinata said. "I know it's more than just…" He trailed off, not sure what to say. It scared him, to know that Tobio's physical fascination with him was just one tiny part of the picture. It scared him, but it was overpowered by a much stronger, steadier happiness. Confusion, too. Why? What had he even done, to deserve so much sincere affection from this one person?

Tobio's face calmed, brows lifting. He pushed his face into Hinata's hair, traced the tip of his nose over the edge of Hinata's ear, murmured against his cheek. "Don't need to touch. When I look at you, I like that, too."

"Tobio," Hinata said firmly, ignoring his heart where it seemed to be trying to beat its way out of his chest. He pressed his palms to Tobio's cheeks. "I'm not going to stay in camp long. Are you worried? Is that why—"

"I'm fine," Tobio said, eyes wide. "I just—I have things to tell."

"Yeah, I see that," Hinata said, trying to glare. "Jeez, you're so—you can't just _say_ stuff like that."

"Why?" Tobio asked. "It's important."

"Because—" Hinata started, and then wrinkled his nose. "You're dumb," he said, finally, kissing Tobio softly. He had no way of explaining to Tobio that it was because he couldn't think of any proper way to respond.

Well, he thought he might know one way. But Tobio wouldn't understand, and it was the scariest prospect of all.

"Stupid," Tobio called him, equally fond.

As Hinata suspected, Tobio did not want to interact with anyone else in the camp, so instead, Hinata's primary plan was to bring things (not flashlights) to him, instead. But first, he would have to get to his tent. Which meant strolling right through the middle of the camp.

He didn't make it very far.

One of the biologists spotted him before he'd barely cleared the tree line, dropping the book she was holding in shock.

"Shouyou!"

Then the rest were crowding around him, as he held up his hands sheepishly.

"He's back!"

"Where has he been?"

"What is he _wearing?"_

Hinata rubbed the back of his head and grinned awkwardly. "Uh… hey, everyone!"

To his surprise, people didn't seem all too shocked over his sudden reappearance—though, he supposed, he had already vanished without warning twice since the expedition had begun. They seemed more interested in his new clothes, or lack thereof—but as he was beginning to use the excuse he'd prepared (monkeys), he caught movement further into the camp beyond the heads of all the scientists.

Tobio had snuck in from the other side.

Hinata faltered in his explanation, eyes widening as Tobio rambled about the camp, prodding and poking his nose into other people's things curiously. He looked up, saw Hinata watching him, and waved.

"Are you alright?" one of the scientists asked Hinata, and he tried to turn his attention back to them.

"Oh! Yes!" he said, shrilly. "Fine!"

Tobio pulled open the flap of one of the tents at random and looked back at Hinata, who shook his head rapidly in panic.

"You… are?" someone asked, sounding confused. "Or…"

"No, I'm—" Hinata tried to track Tobio as inconspicuously as possible with his eyes. "Yes!" he shouted loudly, as Tobio pointed to the opening of Hinata's old tent. "Good! I mean, I'm good!" He took a deep breath as Tobio slipped inside the tent.

It took him far too long to break away from the crowd, but when he finally managed to escape, he made a beeline for his tent, ducking into the entrance to find Tobio waiting.

"Told you I'd come with you," he said, as Hinata closed the flap quickly behind him.

"And I told you not to!" Hinata hissed loudly. "They could have seen you."

"So?" Tobio asked mulishly, picking his way around the various items in the room.

"So then you'd have to talk to everyone," Hinata said. Tobio blew a loud raspberry, and Hinata shushed him. "How are we supposed to get you _out_ of here, now?"

"Wait," Tobio said, with a shrug.

Hinata sighed, sitting on the bed. "You are so difficult."

"You are so…" Tobio paused, thinking.

"Don't say stupid," Hinata warned him.

"Short," Tobio concluded.

Hinata flipped backward onto the bed with a groan. "Okay, Tobio, you win. You're in the camp. Are you happy now?"

Tobio was quiet. Then the bed next to Hinata dipped, and he opened his eyes, as Tobio leaned over him, expression thoughtful.

"Yes," he said, glancing down as he trailed his fingers over Hinata's arm before he took Hinata's hand. "I get to see Hinata's home. Now I see where you live, too. That's important."

Hinata scrunched his nose as his irritation with Tobio drained away. Tobio's home—the treehouse—was many things. It had been his shelter for years, a safe place, though an empty one, where he had now welcomed Hinata into the space as naturally as if he'd always belonged. It was very important to him.

He sat up, scooting closer to Tobio on the bed, pressing his leg up alongside Tobio's.

"This isn't my home," he explained. "My real house is in—it's far away. But if I could, I would show it to you. I would like for you to see it." He brushed Tobio's hair back behind his ear softly, knocking their foreheads together. "Would you _want_ to see it?"

"Yes," Tobio said instantly. "How far?"

"Really far," Hinata said. "I don't… know how easy it would be to bring you back here, if you left."

Tobio stayed quiet for some time, thinking. "I would have to leave this place for a long time?"

"Probably," Hinata said.

"The trees," Tobio said. "Could bring Zou?"

"No…" Hinata shook his head. "Not to where I live."

Tobio frowned. "I would miss it here, Hinata."

"I thought you might," Hinata said. He didn't know what Tobio might have been like, if he hadn't been left to the jungle to raise. But he sensed that even without the plane crash, the other man may still have been at odds, socially, with other people.

"Do you miss it?" Tobio asked.

Hinata considered this. The truth was, he wasn't exactly certain. He had left things behind, to be sure—teaching, colleagues, friends. The ease of life in the city. But did he prefer them to the jungle enough to miss them?

"Not yet," he said.

Tobio looked surprised. "No one you want to be here?" he asked.

"Like Zou, you mean," Hinata said, and Tobio nodded. "I have friends but I don't think they'd want to stay out here. Just like Zou wouldn't be happy in the city."

"Friends…" Tobio said. "And… family?"

Hinata shrugged. "They're gone."

"Oh," Tobio said, knowingly. "Like Tobio's."

"Like 'mine'," Hinata corrected gently. He wondered if it was strange to Tobio, that he seemed so unattached to the place he came from. But then he realized something else. "When I left the treehouse… after I was—"

"Stupid," Tobio supplied, and Hinata laughed.

"Yeah," he said. "I thought about your home. I wanted to be back there."

"You missed it," Tobio said. He started to smile one of his almost-smiles, eyes sliding shut in pleasure.

"I missed _you,_ " Hinata murmured. "I dreamed about you."

"Dreamed?" Tobio repeated. He slid his fingers over Hinata's cheeks and asked, "What is 'dreamed'?"

"I haven't taught you that?" Hinata asked, surprised. But thinking back on it, that never had come up in conversation. He chose his words carefully to explain. "Dreams are… thoughts you have while you sleep. You can't control them. Some people think they show what's most important to us. Our… deepest desires."

Tobio was quiet, processing. Then he said, "You… dreamed. About me?"

Hinata nodded. "Every night." Tobio breathed a little sigh, and Hinata leaned closer, pressing a small, soft kiss to his lips. He pulled away to murmur, "Again, and again, you were there…"

Tobio pulled him into his lap, hands sliding over his back, then into his hair, and Hinata sighed. The last time he'd been in this bed, he'd been miserable, alone and wishing, more than anything, that he could see Tobio again. Now…

"I'm im… important," Tobio said, a shaky exhale between kisses, as Hinata slid his hands over his chest and stomach, just to feel him, real as he was and not a dream.

"I should have told you," Hinata said. "I thought about you the same way you were thinking about me."

"Hinata," Tobio moaned, soft and helpless. "Want you."

"Not… here," Hinata said, then gasped when Tobio shifted under him. He covered Tobio's mouth with his own, trying to keep quiet as he leaned into the kiss. Tobio was getting hard, hot and frantic, and Hinata was no better off.

"Hinata, please," Tobio begged against his lips, "I can't wait, I can't—"

 _"A-ah_ —" Hinata hissed as Tobio rocked into him, resolve giving out. "Then you can't make _noise—_ " He raked his fingers through Tobio's hair, dragging Tobio's bottom lip through his teeth before sucking hard on the soft flesh in his mouth, just to hear the way Tobio whimpered when he was trying to be quiet.

And then—

"Oh!" said a new voice, very unexpectedly. "Hinata, they—told me you were back…"

Hinata yelped, and would have fallen off Tobio's lap, if strong arms hadn't caught him. He started to turn, but Tobio pulled him to his chest tightly, letting out a deep, throaty growl that sent a small shiver through Hinata, as he realized he was being protected.

"Tobio," he said softly. "Tobio, it's alright. We're safe here, let me see who it is."

Disoriented, embarrassed, he wriggled around to face the entryway of the tent. As inconspicuously as he could manage, he snagged one of the pillows from the bed and put it across his scantily clad lap, before raising a hand in greeting at one very startled looking Sawamura Daichi.

"Hi, Daichi," he said, mortified.

"Hi, Hinata," Daichi said. He looked bewildered. "And…?"

Hinata sighed. "Daichi, this is Tobio."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RC's art for chapter 4 can be viewed in full [right here](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/post/159080746619/the-heart-of-the-jungle-by-esselley-chapter-4)!
> 
> [[@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	5. Chapter 5

Daichi stared between Hinata and Tobio, his eyes wide. "Hello, Tobio," he said, after a moment.

A long period of silence passed. Hinata dug his elbow back into Tobio's stomach.

"Hi," Tobio grunted.

Daichi looked at Hinata. "Is this—is _he…_ why you've been…"

"I can explain," Hinata said. "Kind of. It's a pretty long story."

"Well," Daichi said, "I'm definitely listening."

"Okay…" Hinata took a deep breath. "It all pretty much started when I fell into a ravine and got attacked by a jaguar."

It was strange actually telling someone else the story—though there were many specific details Hinata decided to leave out. Or tried to, though his efforts were thwarted on various occasions.

"...so I decided to come back to camp," Hinata said. "That's when I came back the first time."

"Because you needed… a change of clothes," Daichi said slowly, as though sensing something wasn't adding up.

Tobio, who up until this point had been listening quietly, chin resting on Hinata's shoulder, chose this moment to chime in. "And I touched his—" he began to say, before Hinata smothered him with a pillow.

"I _really,_ " he said, smiling through gritted teeth, "needed a new change of clothes." Tobio pried the pillow away from his face and sucked in air, glaring at Hinata. "Tobio, why don't you look around the tent and see if there's anything you're interested in taking back, okay?"

Tobio grunted, displeased. "Want to listen to our story."

"You can—" Hinata paused as he registered what Tobio had called it, and smiled. "You can look at stuff and listen at the same time. I think I had another flashlight in here— _oof_ —"

Tobio shoved Hinata off his lap at the mere mention of his apparent favorite word to start searching the tent more thoroughly. Hinata watched him for a moment until satisfied that he was moderately distracted, before turning back to Daichi.

"Where was I…"

"You two are, uh," Daichi said, watching as Tobio dumped the contents of Hinata's suitcase onto the tent floor. "Close."

Hinata laughed, awkwardly. "I'm— _well,_ you know, we're just—"

"You're the honest-to-god first person he's met," Daichi said. "In, what, twenty years?"

Hinata sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, that's probably about right."

Daichi nodded, rubbing at his chin. "Could we… would he come back? With the expedition?"

"I don't know," Hinata said. "I don't think so. I've tried talking to him about it, but he… he loves it here. He might not be happy anywhere else. This is all he knows."

"The culture shock alone would…" Daichi shook his head, and Hinata hummed his unhappy agreement.

He'd thought of that, of course. But he was afraid it would be even crueler, to introduce Tobio to an entire world he might never be accepted by, or be able to be a part of, with his lack of experience. He could learn, yes, but set back twenty years, at what cost? Losing his life and his home to be forced to play to the roles of someone else's society—Hinata imagined him wearing a cheap suit years down the line, stuck behind a desk, and shuddered. That was a life he was always running from himself.

Now he knew that it wasn't that the outside world was too big for Tobio—it was too small.

"If I asked you not to go back with him, _again,_ " Daichi said, voice quiet, leveling Hinata with an impassive stare, "what would you do?"

Hinata tilted his head. "I would still go."

"What if I tried to stop you?"

Hinata glanced in Tobio's direction. He looked somewhat ridiculous in the tiny tent, head permanently ducked because he was too tall to fit comfortably. "Good luck stopping him, then."

"Right," Daichi said. "So basically, my only option here is to ask you to be careful."

Daichi was right, Hinata knew he was—but he couldn't help bristling the tiniest bit, puffing himself up, as he declared, "He's not dangerous. Not to me."

"Maybe not," Daichi said, doubtfully. "But even if that's true—where does this lead, Hinata?"

And there it was. The question Hinata had been avoiding, one he didn't know how to answer.

"I'm trying to figure that out," he said at last.

Daichi shook his head. "Good luck with that." Hinata couldn't tell if he was sincere, or incredulous. Perhaps both.

"Thanks for, um," Hinata said, "for taking this all so well."

"First off," Daichi said, "I'm definitely freaking out. I'm just good at hiding it."

"Oh," Hinata said.

"Second," the expedition leader continued, "I'm not convinced this isn't a dream. But either way, there's really nothing I can do about it. I'm glad I know where you've been disappearing to, and, I guess, just let me know if I can… help with anything."

"I will," Hinata told him. He felt oddly relieved to have gotten all this off his chest, explained the situation to someone who fully understood how strange it was, yet didn't want to try to restrain him.

"I'll let you guys get back to—" Daichi cut off, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, I'll just, um. I'll head out."

Hinata's face burned as he recalled the position they'd been in when Daichi had entered the tent. "Okay! Sorry, and—thank you, Daichi-san."

"Yeah… don't mention it," Daichi said, letting himself out with a wave. Then he popped back in with a hand over his eyes to say, "Hinata, one last thing—palm oil."

"What?" Hinata asked.

"Nothing, just." Daichi shrugged. "Forget it. I mean, don't forget it, but—I'm just—never mind. Good luck." He disappeared again.

"He seems nice," Tobio said in the wake of his absence, so calmly that Hinata burst out laughing.

"Yeah, he is nice," Hinata agreed. "What'd you find?"

To his surprise, Tobio held up a bag filled with some simple objects that Hinata had nearly forgotten he'd brought with him.

"What are these?" he asked.

Hinata grinned.

*

_"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."_

The treehouse was always warm in the afternoons, and as a consequence, Hinata always felt rather stiflingly lazy around midday. These were the prime hours for dozing, laying about on the soft furs in the dappled sunlight or listening to falling rain, with a little bit of the breeze blowing through the many windows.

On one hot day in particular, sunny and muggy and sticky, Hinata lay flat on Tobio's torso, chin resting on Tobio's chest, toes brushing lazily against the tops of the taller man's feet. Tobio had his eyes closed, head pillowed on his arm, hair fanned out around him. He drew little circles over the small of Hinata's back with the fingers of his other hand, and Hinata knew he wouldn't fall asleep, not as long as Hinata kept reading out loud, because—as it turned out—Tobio loved listening to stories.

Hinata had brought the entire bag of books Tobio had found back to the treehouse, and no matter what kind of book it was, he'd learned, Tobio wanted it read completely from start to finish. He sat through non-fiction and fantasy, science-fiction and horror, adventure novels—his questions were often non-stop, as he seemed nearly overwhelmed by his curiosity about the people and places and things painted as pictures by the words within the pages.

All his favorites so far were undoubtedly novels with a focus on romance. And so, that afternoon, it was Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice._

"Explain," Tobio requested, fingers trailing up Hinata's spine and back, and Hinata smiled, pressing a brief kiss to the center of his chest.

"When this book was written," Hinata said, "social standing was very important to people. I guess that hasn't changed much, but it was _really_ important back then."

"Social…?"

"So, you're mister "king of the jungle", right?" Hinata inquired, and Tobio nodded. "The elephants like you and the monkeys stay away from you—"

"And the spot cats—"

"Jaguars…"

 _"Them,_ " Tobio said, distastefully. "They _fear_ me."

"Mmhm," Hinata agreed. "Well, even in other places, like where I come from, people want certain other groups of people to like them, and stay away from them, and fear them. In a way. That's social standing."

Tobio made a noise of understanding. "Okay."

"A good fortune," Hinata went on, "means you have a _lot_ of something valuable. A lot of something other people want. So someone with a lot of stuff is always looking for someone else to share it with. Someone they like."

"A mate," Tobio said, very knowledgeably.

"Exactly," Hinata agreed.

"What is… 'wife'?" Tobio asked him.

"That's another word for mate," Hinata said. Tobio was quiet, so Hinata waited, letting him process the new information. Some books took a very long time to read if there were lots of unfamiliar ideas and terms Tobio needed to learn, but he was understanding more, and faster, by the day. It was amazing, watching him break down the (sometimes outdated) nuances of a society whose existence he'd been unaware of until a few short months ago.

"Tobio is a single man," the wild man murmured to himself contemplatively.

Hinata bit the inside of his cheek hard to keep from laughing. "I guess you are!"

"And… I have a good fortune," Tobio continued, gesturing around at the treehouse.

"Lots of trees," Hinata agreed. "And an elephant."

Tobio inhaled, then exhaled deeply.

"I want a wife," he said, decisively, and Hinata burst out laughing. Tobio clamped his arms tightly around his body, pinning Hinata to his chest. He looked slightly vindictive as Hinata squealed and struggled, still laughing in delight. "That's you."

"What's me?!" Hinata gasped.

"You. Hinata," Tobio said, still holding him tight. "Wife."

Hinata stopped struggling. He blinked, bewildered, then slowly raised his head to meet Tobio's eyes. The other man loosened his hold, looking down at Hinata curiously.

"Right?" he asked.

"I—oh, you don't—" Hinata sat up quickly, smile gone. He felt hot, but not so pleasant, anymore. The uncomfortable heat pricked at his eyes as he realized what Tobio wanted, lodging restrictively in his chest. He found he couldn't bring himself to look at Tobio. "You don't really, actually, understand what that means, Tobio."

"I do," Tobio said, sounding annoyed. "A mate. I want someone to share things with. Share my home, my—"

"No," Hinata said. "You're sharing those things with me now, okay. But later… not right now, but later, we won't be able to share this stuff anymore."

"Hinata…" Tobio said, and Hinata could hear the worry in his voice.

"Not because I won't _want_ to," he said hurriedly. Now was as good a time as any to try and explain some things. "But because I can't. And a wife, or a husband, or— _whatever._ They're supposed to share that with you for… your whole life. And I have to lea—" He cursed his stupid voice when it cracked, and he couldn't force out the word.

A warm hand closed around his wrist, tugging at him, but he still wouldn't (couldn't) meet Tobio's eyes. He wanted to be honest, but instead, he was just ashamed.

"Don't," Tobio said, and Hinata opened his mouth to say again that he _had to,_ and this was why everything had been so stupidly difficult, but— "I know. So don't be sad."

Hinata looked up at him despite himself, not understanding. "You… know? What do you know?"

"You can't stay," Tobio said, shrugging. "That's fine."

"It's— _fine?"_ Hinata asked, incredulously. "It's not fine! I hate that I—"  

"Don't leave me again," Tobio said, voice growing louder. "Not until you have to."

"I'm not—"

"No wife, okay?" Tobio said. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not upset!" Hinata said, and then realized what his sudden withdrawal and distress must have seemed like. "Not at you. Tobio, you knew? You know I have to leave, but you're just—fine with it?"

Tobio nodded. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay…" Hinata said, hesitantly. He still wasn't sure Tobio really understood the situation.

"Come here, stupid," Tobio insisted, and Hinata wilted, scooting into his lap. "Makes me mad when you say you have to leave. I _know_ already, so stop."

"Okay," Hinata said, again. Tobio sighed, clearly still annoyed, but softening. He curled Hinata up in his arms and lay down on the bed, their noses nearly touching, so that Hinata couldn't avoid looking at him.

"Do people dream a lot?" Tobio asked him.

Hinata frowned. "It depends. Everyone's different."

Tobio hummed. "I dream a lot. I did. Didn't know, until you told me."

"Obviously." Hinata flicked his forehead and received an unamused glare in response. "What did you dream about?"

"Nothing," Tobio said. "No one… important. But before you, I still saw a lot. I dreamed people."

Hinata stared at him. "People? I thought you didn't remember."

Tobio shook his head. "Only a little." He reached out and pressed his palm to Hinata's cheek. "Looking at me. Sometimes, they talked. Laughed. My favorite was… smiling. It made me happy." He traced Hinata's lips with his fingers, staring intently, the same as always.

But suddenly, the gesture seemed entirely new, as Hinata registered what Tobio was trying to tell him.

Hinata opened his mouth and found he couldn't talk. He blinked hard, but it didn't help—his eyes were already swimming hopelessly. He sucked in a lungful of air and let it stutter out of him again.

"I didn't understand," Tobio continued, like he hadn't noticed Hinata's futile blinking, or the way he couldn't stop his mouth from wobbling. "I didn't know what they were. Didn't know what I wanted. And then I…" He shook his head, brushing his thumb over Hinata's mouth. "And then, _you._ You."

His voice was so awed it made Hinata laugh through his tears. "What about me, Tobio?"

"My _dream,_ " Tobio said, insistently. "What I always wanted was real. Because Hinata is _real."_

Hinata squeezed his eyes shut and reached up to grab his hand tightly. He kissed Tobio's fingers, one by one, his palm, turned his hand over to press his lips to each of Tobio's knuckles in turn until Tobio gently pulled free so he could wipe Hinata's wet eyes dry.

"I have…" Hinata whispered, voice small and hoarse, "I don't…"

"I want to share with you," Tobio said. "When you're here. Okay?"

"Of course," Hinata said instantly, "it's okay, of course—"

"Hinata," Tobio said, "eyes."

Hinata blinked his damp eyelashes open to see Tobio's lips curving ever so slightly upward. Another attempt to speak resulted in a whimper, so instead he leaned forward, pressing his trembling lips to Tobio's smiling mouth.

Tobio kissed him back like they had all the time in the world.

"There are—things—" Hinata said, head spinning, as Tobio trailed kisses lower so he could talk—though it was difficult to get words out still, with Tobio's lips so warm on his neck, his throat. "There are things I want to share with you, too—"

He gave up for the time being, let himself cling, as Tobio murmured a series of soft agreements against his skin, _yes Hinata,_ trusting without even knowing what Hinata was talking about. He'd find out soon. There were things Hinata wanted with him—wanted to give him.

But first, he realized, he'd need to take Daichi's advice.

The part about being careful, yes—but also, he was going to need to figure out how to make palm oil.

*

Hinata wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, trying to push his bangs off his forehead where the strands had plastered to his skin. He hadn't been this overheated or sweaty in the jungle yet, despite many humid days. Hopefully the payoff would be worth the discomfort.

"Still don't understand…" Tobio said.

"Well, you will, if I can make this work," Hinata replied. "And if you'd stop complaining about it every five minutes, that would be helpful."

"Not complaining," Tobio said. "You take too long."

Hinata twisted around in the grass to glare at him. They were outside, in one of the quiet spots by a small stream, where Hinata could accomplish his task without fear of burning the treehouse down. He was attempting to make palm oil, all natural, with a self started fire and fruit from the trees he'd picked himself. It was, indeed, very slow going.

"Once I'm done with this, you're going to thank me," he snapped. "Go climb a tree or something in the meantime."

"Boring," Tobio said. He slid closer to peer over Hinata's shoulder as Hinata started to separate the mixture. "Can I eat it?"

"Technically, yes," Hinata said, and smacked his hand away the next second as Tobio reached to stick a finger in the palm juice. "You're going to burn yourself, and it doesn't even taste good."

"Then why did you make it?" Tobio asked grumpily.

"Because it's not for eating," Hinata said. He was feeling less annoyed now that it appeared his efforts were paying off. He could scoop the thin layer of oil off the top of the juice, ladling it into a clean, indented stone.

Tobio pointed at it. "Can't eat?"

"Nope," Hinata said. He swirled his finger through the viscous oil and then swiped some of it over Tobio's chest. It went on smooth, and Tobio looked down in confusion, before touching his chest. He made a displeased face.

"Feels weird," he said. "Hinata, what is it?"

"That, Tobio," Hinata announced, "is a lubricant."

Tobio contemplated this new word. "Lu… bri… cant." He rubbed his chest with his finger. "Wet."

"That feeling is called 'slippery'," Hinata explained. "Or 'slimy'."

"Slippery… slimy…" Tobio mumbled, getting a feel for the new words. He poked his finger carefully into the bowl and stared at the shiny substance on his skin. "Lubricant."

"It can be used for a lot of things—hey, quit that—" Hinata said, as Tobio reached out to smear some of the oil on his cheek.

"Lubricant," Tobio said defiantly.

"Okay, we can stop saying the word now," Hinata said, wrinkling his nose. He caught the look in Tobio's eyes and narrowed his own. "Tobio…"

He yelped as Tobio pounced at him, squirming away, but not in time. Tobio had caught his ankle and started to drag him back—but his hands were still slick with oil, and Hinata tugged his foot free.

"Ha!" he crowed. "Slippery!"

Tobio looked betrayed. "Lubricant is bad," he lamented, as Hinata launched a counterattack, flinging himself onto his back. Tobio made a series of (highly exaggerated) choking noises as Hinata shoved him down into the grass.

"Not everything that doesn't—" Hinata wheezed as the other man rolled over and went limp on top of him, a very heavy dead weight. After a few seconds wriggling to get his arms free, he was able to jab his fingers into Tobio's ribs and Tobio howled, springing off him. "Not everything that doesn't make _your_ life easier is bad!"

He tried to crawl out of reach again, but Tobio caught him, arm around his waist to keep him from slipping away. He dumped Hinata easily into his lap, facing him, and said, "Everything that makes it hard for me to hold you is bad."

Hinata blinked at his utterly serious expression, then ceased his playful struggling as he slumped contentedly against Tobio, resting his chin on his shoulder. Tobio made a low sound, a pleased rumbling deep in his chest, as Hinata traced the claw scars across his skin with his fingers.

"It's really _not_ bad," Hinata told him. "It's useful."

"How?" Tobio asked, sounding unconvinced.

Hinata looked up at him and grinned. "Want me to show you?" Tobio narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but nodded. "Okay, well, first you need to be a bit more, um, excited about it."

"Why?" Tobio asked, apparently having decided to be difficult.

"Would you just trust me?" Hinata needled. He walked his fingers up Tobio's thigh and over the crease of his hip, arranging his face into a carefully neutral expression when Tobio glanced down and then back at him, eyebrow raised. "You might even like it."

"I'm—" Tobio faltered when Hinata slipped his fingers between his legs, dropping the coy pretenses. "I'm paying attention… now…"

"Told you," Hinata said, shifting in his lap so he could comfortably slide one hand against the back of Tobio's neck as he teased his cock, fingers brushing over him until Tobio was hard, panting, lashes fluttering. "This feels good, right?"

"Nnnh…" Tobio mumbled, as good as a yes. "Hinata…"

"You want more?" Hinata whispered, low and warm.

"What is it _for,_ " Tobio groaned, and Hinata smiled.

He slicked his hand with palm oil and wrapped his fingers around Tobio's shaft, stroking him smoothly from the base of his cock over the head and back, hard and steady.

Tobio inhaled a sharp, sudden breath and closed his hand around Hinata's wrist, pulling him away immediately. He shook his head jerkily, eyes shut and breathing labored.

"Sorry," Hinata said, touching his face apologetically, "Sorry, that's probably—"

"Wait," Tobio said, voice rough. "Too—what—" He took several deep breaths while Hinata watched him. Finally, he opened his eyes to look at Hinata. "That's… a lot."

"I know," Hinata agreed. "Too much, I didn't think about that."

"I was…" Tobio said, voice growing softer with each word, "I was going to come…"

"Oh," Hinata said, feeling nearly guilty about the sudden spike of heat in his stomach. "Oh, Tobio—from that?"

Tobio looked petulant. "It was a _lot,_ " he insisted again, agitated. "It's too fast, I don't—"

"No, no, I get it!" Hinata said quickly. He kissed Tobio's forehead. "That's pretty understandable, really. It's not bad, or anything."

"But I want—" Tobio said haltingly, "I… want."

"We don't have to give up," Hinata told him. "I just won't go that fast."

"You can do that?" Tobio asked, and Hinata snorted.

"I realize I've been the worst at the whole 'taking it slow' thing," he said. "So, granted, you don't have much to go off of but, yes, I can do that."

"Okay," Tobio said. "I trust you."

Hinata paused, tilting his head to the side to survey the other man. Tobio watched him patiently, staring right into his eyes, calm again, and a comforting warmth bloomed steadily inside Hinata's chest. He leaned in close.

"I know you do," he said, kissing Tobio softly. Tobio let go of his wrist, and Hinata slipped his hand back around him, moving much, much slower, this time. "Tell me…"

Tobio's mouth fell slack under his, eyes unfocused, glazing over—but he didn't say to stop. "I… like that…"

"Yeah?" Hinata murmured. And then, feeling filthy, he pressed on. "What do you like about it?"

He brushed his lips against Tobio's, and Tobio leaned into him, tongue slipping inside his mouth eagerly, a little, low whine bleeding out of him as Hinata worked his hand over his cock, gliding easily over the tip, wrist rolling to squeeze Tobio through his fingers.

"Feels—different," Tobio panted. "B-better? You're—" he gasped a little as Hinata played with his tip, rubbing faster for a few brief seconds, backing off before it got to be too overwhelming. _"Ah—_ it feels so w-wet—"

"That's the idea," Hinata said.

"Is that wh-what lubricant… is for?" Tobio asked.

"Um," Hinata said. His voice sounded high even to his own ears, as he realized, he didn't know how to explain what was actually going through his head. "It helps with this and other things."

 _"What other things?"_ Tobio growled, so intensely Hinata froze for a second, and Tobio groaned, sliding his warm hands up the length of Hinata's back, over his neck, to twist desperately into his hair. "Hinata, I want to know. Tell me— _show_ me—"

"I want to have sex," Hinata blurted out.

For a moment, the only sound was the water in the stream and birds in the trees. Tobio's grip in his hair loosened and he pulled back to look at Hinata, his eyes dark and half-lidded.

"What is that?" he asked.

"I don't… it's when…" Hinata stared at him, at a loss for how to explain.

"Is it like this?" Tobio prompted.

"It's… _hopefully…_ better," Hinata said. "But it can be a lot _more,_ too. Maybe too much."

Tobio contemplated this quietly. He slid his fingers against Hinata's cheeks, under his chin, turning his face up to rest their foreheads together.

"You want it," he said, fingers brushing Hinata's face.

"Yes," Hinata said, "yes, _yes,_ I want you."

Tobio reached out to dip his fingers in the palm oil, before sliding them down Hinata's throat, over his chest and stomach. Hinata wrapped his arms around Tobio's neck, clinging tightly as Tobio took both of them together in his slick fingers, squeezed Hinata's cock against his own.

"Will it—" he gasped, as he started to move his big hand firm and slow, like Hinata had done for him. "Will it make you feel good, too?"

He had started shaking, trembling against Hinata, but he didn't stop, and Hinata pressed his lips against his ear to whisper softly to him, "Yes. I've wanted you in-inside me—for so long…"

Tobio was quiet from there, one arm holding securely to Hinata, cradling the back of his head, as he started to bring them off faster, faster, worries and control both slipping away. And Hinata kept talking to him, to let him know that this was perfect already, that even this was more than enough. However Tobio wanted him, he was happy with that.

Tobio finished first, whimpers tucked back behind his teeth as he pressed his forehead hard against Hinata's. Hinata could feel it, warm and wet suddenly over his cock, and thought that alone might end him, but Tobio hissed, pulling his hand away to wipe it in the grass when he got too oversensitive. So Hinata kissed him as he reached down to finish himself, sighing into Tobio's mouth as he spilled over his own fingers.

"Maybe," he said quietly, brushing the tip of his nose fondly over Tobio's, "that was just too much."

"It was _good,_ " Tobio insisted stubbornly. "I want to try sex, now."

"Not right now!" Hinata said. He'd already known Tobio would agree, but he wanted him to understand what he was agreeing to. "When you're ready. And I don't want it to be—it should be something _special—"_

"It will be," Tobio said, as if this was obvious. "It will be with you."

"But when I lea—" He cut off, as Tobio let out a soft warning growl. "But, later…" Hinata continued gently. "Tobio, I don't want you to say yes, just because it's me."

"So stupid…" Tobio sighed exasperatedly. He pressed his fingers into Hinata's scalp, squeezing too tight, relenting when Hinata winced to ruffle his hair. _"I want_ to say yes, because it's you."

Hinata poked him hard in the chest. "Okay, then, I want you to think about it first. If this is enough or if… if it's worth it to have more. Even if it's only… for just a little while."

"What does Hinata think?" Tobio asked. But it was less curious, and more, Hinata felt, a rebuke. One he probably deserved.

He tucked his head under Tobio's chin, and said, "I don't know. I know that's not fair, but I can't decide for you, only myself. And I don't know, and I'm scared, and—"

"Okay," Tobio told him, arms wrapping tighter, warmer. "I'll think about it. And then I'll tell you."

"Okay," Hinata nodded, and rubbed his fingers against the scars over Tobio's heart, the ones Tobio had received in exchange for saving him. "Thank you."

*

Hinata had thought Tobio would brush his concerns aside, spending a minimal amount of time "thinking" before making a decision he already seemed set on. And there was no way to explain to him all the implications of sex and having it and what it might or might not mean to each of them, personally, when Tobio lacked the usual lifetime of expectations and reservations commonly surfaced by existing in a sex driven society. So, Hinata worried.

But as it would soon turn out, he needn't have.

Two days passed without Tobio bringing the topic up again. But when he did, it was clear he had, indeed, put some thought into the matter.

"I have a question," Tobio announced one afternoon, on a lazy stroll by the river with Zou. They were on either side of the elephant, and Hinata stroked one leathery side absentmindedly, wondering what Tobio could be about to say.

"Go for it."

"How do we have sex?"

Hinata almost tripped over his own feet. "That's a… there's a lot of answers to that question!"

"How?" Tobio repeated, more insistently. "What do I do? What do _you_ do?"

"Well," Hinata said, "that all kind of depends on—"

"You said you want me inside you," Tobio reminded him.

Hinata sank down into the grass, feeling his face burn in embarrassment. Zou continued on walking as Tobio came to sit next to him, laying a heavy hand on top of his head.

"Do you remember that you said this?" Tobio asked.

"Yes!" Hinata squeaked. "Yes, I definitely remember."

"Okay," Tobio said, "because I am confused. I've already been inside you."  

Hinata looked up at him. Tobio was staring at him with a look of mild consternation. "When…"

"When you put your mouth—"

"Oh, nonono," Hinata interrupted. "No, that's—that's different. That's not… where I meant."

"Then where?" Tobio pressed.

Hinata hid his face in his hands. "It's—wow, this is not a conversation I've ever—well. There is… another… hole—entrance? Not my mouth. But, uh, somewhere else you're pretty fond of, now that I think about it…" This should not be that difficult. He was a scientific professional; and what was more, it was his responsibility, to teach Tobio these things, and to answer his questions when asked. Especially about this. "You'd be inside my—my b—"

He yelped as Tobio grabbed him, going wide-eyed as he found himself pushed down onto his stomach into the grass.

"Lie…?" Tobio muttered, and then, to Hinata's mortification, spread his ass cheeks apart with the palms of his hands.

"Tobio!" he shrieked. "Tobio, stop, you've got to let me explain, first—"

"Hinata, don't lie!" Tobio responded, flipping him over again onto his back. He was wearing a look of utter alarm.

"What?" Hinata asked, bewildered. "What's wrong?"

"I won't fit!" Tobio said.

Hinata stared up at him, and then flung an arm over his face. "You _will,_ we just have to do other stuff, first."

"What other stuff?" Tobio asked suspiciously.

"First you have to get me ready," Hinata sighed. "I'll show you, obviously, I'm not telling you to just stick it in there right away—"

"You would _die,_ " Tobio said, with absolute certainty.

"It definitely wouldn't feel great," Hinata agreed. "But I mean—I would show you how to do everything, okay? So you don't have to be freaked out about that, if you decide you want to."

Tobio nodded slowly, then snuck a glance at Hinata, looking away surreptitiously when Hinata caught him staring.

"What?"

Tobio shrugged. "I do like it."

"Like what?" Hinata asked.

Tobio wouldn't meet his eyes when he said, "I do like _that_ part of you."

Hinata blinked at him and then sat up, smacking his shoulder repeatedly. "Quit saying embarrassing things!" he yelled, as Tobio laughed quietly and fended him off one-handed.

The next question came the very next day, and was easier to answer… in theory.

"Have you had sex before?" Tobio asked Hinata over breakfast.

Hinata swallowed the overlarge quantity of fruit he was eating, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he accidentally let some of the juice dribble out in his surprise. "Yeah," he blurted instantly, and then, as his brain began to catch up with the question, "I mean, yes. I've had sex before."

"With other people?"

Hinata tilted his head in confusion. "Yes…"

"A lot?" Tobio wondered next.

"Not a—I mean, what even qualifies as 'a lot', for you?" Hinata asked. "Why?"

"Because you know everything about it," Tobio said.

"There's not a lot to know." Hinata shrugged. "That's not the complicated part."

He expected more questions to come after that revelation, but none did. Instead Tobio nodded, and continued eating, though he looked very thoughtful for some time afterward.

And then, nearly a week after that conversation, Tobio asked his third question.

They were racing—through the treetops, along the paths provided by vines and crooked branches, and Hinata, for the first time, was actually _winning._ He could see the finish line ahead, empty space where the trees ended. Beyond their boundaries was a thin strip of sand, and placid water lapping over the earth, a small beach right at the edge of the jungle.

Hinata sprinted across one of the thick, gnarly tree branches, leaping off it into the air without a second thought, snatching a dangling vine and swinging, swinging so fast the wind whipped his hair back and carried his laughter away with it. He knew Tobio was just behind him, but it was too late—Hinata was the first to burst out from under the shade of the trees and into the blinding sunlight, grinning broadly as he shielded his eyes from the glare. He leaned far back on his vine, gripping it between his knees, head tipped back to look behind him to watch where Tobio swung, defeated, still in the shadows just inside the trees.

"I win!" Hinata yelled back. "I won, and you have to admit it, you have to _say_ it, Tobio."

He swung in a lazy arc back to where Tobio was hanging, drifting by him with his nose stuck proudly up in the air. Tobio reached out and caught his vine, bringing his journey to an abrupt halt.

"You cheated," Tobio said.

"I taught you not to let your guard down," Hinata said. He'd lulled Tobio nearly all the way to sleep by playing with his hair while the other man was laying in his lap. And then, shamelessly, he'd made a break for the treeline before Tobio knew what was happening, challenging him to a race while he was still blinking sleep from his eyes. None of that changed the fact that Hinata had  _won,_ though.

"You…" Tobio growled, dragging Hinata's vine closer, until they were nearly nose to nose. Hinata laughed, unrepentant, closing his eyes and tilting his chin up as he expected a kiss. But it didn't come.

He opened his eyes to see Tobio looking intently at him. "Oh, come on, are you really that upset—"

"Will it be different?" Tobio asked him.

Confused, Hinata shook his head. "Will what be different?"

"Sex," Tobio said. "Will it be different with me? If you already…"

"It will," Hinata said, answer instant, almost before he'd processed the question.

"Why?" Tobio asked.

"Because—" Hinata paused. What could he say that would make sense to Tobio?

_Those were one night stands._

_It didn't matter to those people if I left, one way or another._

The first would mean nothing to Tobio, and the second didn't seem like nearly enough of the reason why. And there was a third reason, one he wasn't sure either of them properly understood, yet. So he said none of those things, but something that was true, all the same.

"Because there's no one else like you. And you're the one I want to be with."  

The words frustrated him, they still seemed too small. But the questioning look on Tobio's face faded and instead of responding, he suddenly slid down the vine he was holding onto, dropping out of sight.

"You're not even going to say anything to that?!" Hinata yelled after him, making his way down to the ground as fast as he was able. But Tobio was already running onto the beach, into the warm water, and Hinata raced after him, only to be caught up in Tobio's arms as he reached him.

"I thought about it," Tobio told him.

"I noticed," Hinata said, grinning.

"I want to," Tobio said. He brushed fingers wet from the salty waves over Hinata's cheek. "I want to be inside you, too."

Hinata blinked at him, heart racing. "Tonight?" he asked, voice barely making it out of his throat.

Tobio shook his head. "Right now. Go back?"

"Y-yeah!" Hinata said, far too eager. He didn't care, even though Tobio's mouth was twitching, clearly holding back a smile. "Yes, okay!"

*

Though he saw it every day, this time, as Hinata's hands grasped the sturdy frame of the window to pull himself inside, the treehouse reminded him strongly, suddenly—of that time right before he'd realized (or maybe, stopped ignoring) the true weight of Tobio's feelings for him. It had been warm and sunny then, too, but that wasn't an infrequent occurrence. More than that, there was the sense of excitement, verging on something like wonder.

Back then it had been over Zou, at having something so wild and seemingly untameable allow him to be so close. And now…

He heard Tobio climb in behind him, bumping into him by accident, with how close Hinata was standing in front of the window, feet unmoving since he'd entered and been struck with that strange sense of nostalgia.

He only realized how sensitive he was already when he felt fingers trailing down his arm, and Tobio's soft, curious voice saying his name punched the air from his lungs, made goosebumps spring up on his skin, sent a shiver rolling down his spine.

"Are you…" Tobio asked, but trailed off, as Hinata walked wordlessly toward the bed and settled himself on it, looking up at him.

"Come here," he said.

Tobio followed him, crawling between Hinata's legs, slid his hands over Hinata's sides and back to hold him as Hinata kissed him, softly at first. That didn't last. Soon his head was spinning, as Tobio kissed him longer, teeth teasing at his lips, and then tongue slipping hot against his own, until Hinata couldn't breathe. He gasped as Tobio guided him down onto the bed, heavy over him even with his weight balanced carefully, and Hinata remembered the first time he'd ever seen him, how taken aback he'd been by how shockingly beautiful Tobio was, suddenly appearing to him in the rain and flashing lightning.

But it was so different, now that Hinata knew him, and knew there was nothing to fear. He combed his fingers through Tobio's dark hair where it tumbled over his shoulders, and smiled when Tobio did the same to the unruly locks on his own head. The thing was, he would never want to tame Tobio—but he loved that Tobio let him be as wild as he'd always wanted.

"Time to teach you something new, huh?" he murmured, and Tobio nodded. His fingers were shaky in Hinata's hair and Hinata took his face in his hands. "Don't worry… don't be nervous."

Tobio exhaled shakily. "I'm… I want to learn."

Hinata reached for the small stone jar on the floor by the bed. "Keep touching me. Put your hands— _ah,_ good…"

Whether or not Tobio had done it intentionally, it actually was perfect—sliding his hands down Hinata's chest and stomach, then over Hinata's legs, where they were raised and bent at the knee, to push them farther apart until they fell open wide.

"Here?" He stroked his thumbs over Hinata's hipbones before brushing his knuckles gently over Hinata's cock, up and down his shaft until it was hard, twitching against Hinata's stomach at his touch. Only when Hinata groaned, lifting his hips, did Tobio wrap his hand around him, stroking him lightly, leaning over him with a hand braced by his head. His pupils were dark as he stared longingly at Hinata's face.

"W-watch—" Hinata told him. From experience, he knew Tobio would be content to just stare at his face the entire time. "Watch what I… what I'm…"

Tobio's gaze followed his hand down, as Hinata rubbed his fingers together, warming the cool oil slicked over them. He slid his hand down, biting his lip as he brushed his entrance. It had been a while since he'd done this himself… months, since the expedition had begun, and longer since he'd been with another person.

"I'm watching," Tobio said, and sure enough, his eyes went wide, so wide, as Hinata pushed a finger slowly inside himself. "Does it… hurt you?"

"N-no," Hinata said, truthfully enough. It was tight, uncomfortably so, but he'd expected that. And it made his breath catch with how it felt, realizing how big Tobio would feel inside him, how hot he'd feel around Tobio. But first he needed to teach him. "This… is what you have… to do," he breathed, the words a struggle as he adjusted to the feeling in him. "You start off small, but you… you keep going. Until—"

"Until I can be in you," Tobio said. "I… it looks…" Hinata pressed his finger in deep, as deep as it would go, and Tobio squeezed his cock, tongue running wet over his lips as he watched Hinata's hand. "I like that."

Hinata rolled his hips—up into Tobio's hand and then down onto his own, breaths panting staccato from his lungs. "You do—you like watching me?" Tobio nodded slowly and Hinata whined. It might be a little too fast but—he slid another finger in, still careful, hissing, and Tobio let go of his dick, to grab his hips and drag Hinata higher into his lap, fingers gripping hard.

"More," he demanded. "Hinata, put more in."

 _"Don't—_ " Hinata gasped. "Don't s-say that—I'm tr-trying to go slow—" And that was difficult, when Tobio sounded so innocently filthy. He focused on stretching himself, spreading his fingers apart and breathing, trying to relax.

"Am I," Tobio whispered, "the biggest? The biggest one Hinata's had inside?"

Hinata laughed before he could help himself, breathless. "You _can't_ have dick envy, Tobio, not when you've never met another person in your life."

Tobio shook his head. "I don't—"

"You don't know what that means, I know," Hinata said fondly.

"I know you want… _more,"_ Tobio said. "You _want_ me, let me be more. Please," he begged, as Hinata's back arched off the soft furs and he nodded instantly, automatically.

"First," he said, "first, use this. Your hand—" He nudged the pot towards Tobio and the other man dutifully dipped his fingers inside. When that was done, Hinata pulled his own hand away and stared up at him. "Do you know what to do?"

Tobio was frowning so heavily that Hinata reached up, tapping the wrinkles in his forehead, and he nodded. "Slow." He touched one of his fingers to Hinata's entrance, and Hinata shivered a little—it was cool, but that didn't much matter now. What mattered was the exact feeling, the slight, gentle stretch, as Tobio eased a finger inside of him, and Hinata squeezed his arms tight, only remembering to breathe at the last moment. "Hinata?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"I'm fine—" Hinata said. And then, "It's—not enough—you c-can—" He broke off as Tobio complied, pushed another long, slick finger into him, and _that_ was better. That was closer to what he needed. He groaned, soft and low, and rocked his hips tentatively, and Tobio bent over him, gently spreading his fingers wider, and wider.

"This is good," Tobio murmured, dropping a kiss to Hinata's forehead, then down the bridge of his nose. "It's going to—it's going to feel really good, isn't it? I might not—"

"It's alright," Hinata said, starting to babble as Tobio's fingers stretched him. "Whatever you do—it's okay. You're so good—you're so good, Tobio—"

"You—" Tobio said as Hinata rocked harder on his hand, and then started to take his cues from that, fingers drawing out before pushing back in, and Hinata clutched at his shoulders and moaned. "You like this so much. Hinata—"

 _"Yes,_ " Hinata said. "Oh, god— _ah—haah—"_

Tobio hung his head low, mouth open against Hinata's. "More—make more noises for me, Hinata…"

Hinata shoved a hand into his hair, gripping the back of his head, moaned Tobio's name into his mouth as Tobio stretched him open, fingers pressing deep. Tobio brushed his prostate, nearly pulled away in shock as Hinata let out a high, sharp cry.

"N-no, I need—" Hinata tried to tell him. "I n-need—I _need_ you—"

"Now?" Tobio asked, sounding unsure, and Hinata had simply meant him, all of him, needed him like he needed air for breathing. But,

"Yes—" Hinata gasped, "Lie down—lie down."

Tobio obeyed him without question, sliding his fingers out carefully. Hinata struggled with his loincloth, pulling it off with shaky hands, and Tobio copied him, untying his own and laying it to the side. His cock was already swollen and red, leaking from the tip, but he was quiet and patient—hadn't said a word about it while he was making sure Hinata was ready.

Hinata wanted to make everything worth it, for him.

He kissed Tobio as he smoothed a hand over the hot length of his cock, coating him from base to tip in the oil. "I'm going to have you like this," Hinata said softly, as Tobio's lashes fluttered, throat working as he swallowed. "You'll be okay. Let me show you."

"Okay," Tobio said. He opened his eyes, and stared determinedly into Hinata's. "I'm ready, Hinata."

Hinata smiled down at him, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes. "Jungle boy, I _know_ you are."

It still seemed like neither of them were truly prepared, though, when Hinata pulled himself over Tobio's hips and settled his hands on Tobio's chest. When he lined himself up, felt hot skin brushing against his hole, a split second before he started to press back onto it, let it finally begin to open him up wide. It wasn't too much (only a little, only at first), and as Hinata sank down, stopped and adjusted, slowly took in all of Tobio, the feeling had progressed from precarious to intoxicating—he was hot and full with it, arms and thighs trembling as he sat all the way down on Tobio's cock.

But what he couldn't have prepared himself for was the way Tobio was looking at him, eyes wide and pleading, like he didn't know what to do with himself. He gripped Hinata's knees with his hands like his life depended on holding onto something, chest heaving as he struggled to breathe.

"Hinata was right," he choked. "It's—different."

"Is that—good?" Hinata asked. It was torture, not moving.

"Y-yes?" Tobio said, uncertain. "It's so—I can't—"

Hinata shushed him gently. "You're allowed to feel like it's a lot. This _is_ a lot."

Tobio pursed his lips together for so long, Hinata opened his mouth to ask if he was okay. But the other man blurted, suddenly, "I want—to be in you. Forever."

"We—" Hinata smiled shakily. "We can do this a lot, now."

"I want to make Hinata—make you feel good," Tobio said, desperately. "Always. Every day."

"To—bio, o-okay," Hinata gasped, "l-let me—can I—move? Can—"

"Yes," Tobio said, and Hinata shuddered, and rolled his hips, and watched as Tobio seemed to break, underneath him.

Hinata rode him the way he wanted to, at first. The way he'd been wanting to—hard, and a little too rough, picking his hips up before slamming down again, snapping the breath from his lungs and building the pleasure in him almost intolerably fast—Tobio was just on the right side of too thick, and Hinata could work him deep, feel his own thoughts slipping away into white nothing. Until Tobio inhaled a frantic, tight gasp, and Hinata realized he'd been silent, otherwise, blinked his bleary vision to look at him and saw—

"T-Tobio—" he asked, forcing his breathing to even out as he slowed his movements. "Tobio, are you okay?" He reached out, brushing his fingers over Tobio's cheek. There were tears trailing over his skin. "Why—"

"I don't know," Tobio whispered. He was staring up at Hinata like if he blinked, looked away for one moment, Hinata would be gone. "I'm not… I'm not sad. I'm so, so happy, Hinata."

Hinata leaned forward. He could feel Tobio slipping out of him, but didn't stop, not until they were nearly nose to nose, his hair brushing Tobio's forehead. He could make out the different, dark shades of blue in Tobio's eyes, hear his labored breathing.

"That happens, sometimes," he told Tobio, rubbing the tear tracks dry with his thumbs. "When you're feeling a lot."

"I feel… a lot," Tobio agreed. "I feel a lot about you. When I look at you…"

"Right back at you," Hinata said. "I'm—I'm gonna move again. Is that okay?" Tobio nodded, and Hinata slid a hand against his shoulder for leverage. This time, however, he paced it so slow, he ached. And he wanted to stay like that, for as long as he could.

Like that, Tobio was able to stay aware, and eventually, he was able to keep up. He slid his hands from Hinata's knees, finally—one hand gripping solid and warm against Hinata's side, and the other low on his back, and lower still, until he had a handful of Hinata's ass, made Hinata moan as he spread him apart just a little further, rocking his hips to meet him and sink in deep.

"Tobio—" Hinata breathed, "that's so good, you're— _ah—_ you're so g-good, in me—" It was so much slower, the heat rising in him, stomach filling with it until his skin tingled with warmth, made his toes curl as it started to overwhelm him.

"Are you—" Tobio broke off, eyes squeezing shut as Hinata rocked back on him again, panting out his next words, "a-are you still—scared?"

Hinata shook his head. "No," he said, bending so he could press his lips to Tobio's. "I…  never should've been."

Not of this. There were things to be scared of, maybe—but not having this.

"Hinata?" Tobio asked, voice urgent. "I'm—" A soft little whimper escaped his lips, against Hinata's mouth, and he pressed his fingers hard into Hinata's skin. "I'm going to come. What do I do?"

"Just come," Hinata told him. When Tobio cried his name out again, he breathed in his ear, "In me."

Tobio's head tipped back as he shook under Hinata, helpless, wordless moans slipping from his mouth. Hinata watched as his orgasm took him slow, and felt as Tobio spilled inside him, hot, hips rolling to bury himself in Hinata's warmth until his body loosened up all over and he slumped back against his bed, gulping air into his lungs. Hinata stroked a hand over his heaving chest and Tobio tried to look at him, eyes unfocused and head heavy.

"Too fast," he mumbled, and Hinata buried his face into his neck and then hummed, as Tobio curled long fingers around his cock and started to lazily stroke him off. "Want you to come, too."

"Oh—yeah, I'm—" Hinata brushed kisses over his neck and shivered against him. Tobio was still filling him, so solid and warm lying underneath him, hand slick as it worked over his shaft, and he whined, and gasped, "Gonna _—_ come… f-for you—I—I'm—"

He got nothing more out than a soft sob, and Tobio dropped his head back to the bed, rubbing a hand up and down Hinata's back as Hinata streaked his stomach messily. He coughed, gasping, and Tobio murmured, "That's for me."

Hinata craned his neck and managed to land a kiss on his jaw. "You're welcome. Hold still—" he said, as he raised himself up and off of Tobio, who hissed in protest. "Quit grumbling, this is definitely more uncomfortable for me."

He briefly bemoaned the thought that he'd need to get down out of the treehouse in order to wash up, made doubly unpleasant by the fact that there was warmth leaking now between his legs. He would definitely need to find a way to bring water up to the treehouse the next time they did this. That, or they could just fuck by the river next time—the elephants wouldn't care.

A hand trailing between his thighs brought his attention back to Tobio. He was frowning, but Hinata felt his cheeks warm as the other man brushed his fingers over the wetness on his reddened skin.

"Okay?" Tobio asked. He brushed a hand through Hinata's wild hair, and then over his cheek, staring up at him as though making sure Hinata's next words would be the truth. "Not hurt?"

"You didn't hurt me," Hinata said. "I told you, you were perfect."

Tobio blinked at him and then, to Hinata's amusement, turned his face away into the furs, so that only the very corner of his mouth was visible as it wobbled into a smile. Hinata's heart gave a hard and insistent tug, then, and he put a hand over it, and said,

"I love you."

For a moment, Tobio didn't react. But then he rolled over, and Hinata could see he had managed to suppress his smiling, and now looked very curious.

"What does that mean?" he asked, and Hinata felt his chest tighten even more.

"It means…" He considered this. The word itself meant very little to Tobio, but there were other ways, surely, to explain. "I feel more for you—I care about you… more than I ever have for any other person."

Tobio tilted his head. "So, that means I love Hinata, too."

"You've never known anyone else," Hinata pointed out, and tried not to feel a little saddened.

"So then, how will I know?" Tobio asked.

Hinata smiled, shrugging. "That's something you figure out on your own." He decided cleanup would come a little later and huddled into Tobio's chest, tracing the lines of his scars with his lips, the tip of his nose, as Tobio wrapped him up in his arms. "Only you can know what it means to you, I can't tell you that."

"That's not fair," Tobio protested. "If Hinata loves me, then I love Hinata."

"You don't _have_ to," Hinata said, laughing. "That's not how it works."

"I don't know how it works!"

"No one knows how it works!" Hinata said, squirming as Tobio squeezed him purposefully too tight. "I just love you. Even though you're annoying, see? It can't be explained."

Tobio groaned and grumbled. "I will figure it out. On my _own."_

Hinata pressed closer to him. "I'm cheering you on."

And if, by any chance, it was a real possibility—if Tobio really wanted to love him—then Hinata would look forward to it, wholeheartedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: don't have unprotected sex with jungle wild men, kiddos. Even if they're perfect. 
> 
> RC drew the stunning art for Ch 5 ( **please[full view](https://reallyporning.tumblr.com/post/159344028724/the-heart-of-the-jungle-chapter-5-by-esselley) this!** ) while I was stuck trying to figure out how to proceed with the scene. One of the best parts of this collab (well, all of it was the best part, but in particular) was writing/drawing in tandem, working out the small details (we looked at a lot of gifs to figure out positioning for this lol), and having that get us moving on the bigger ones. I can't believe next week will already be the final post, but <3 RC for doing this with me.
> 
> [[@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


	6. Chapter 6

A storm was approaching the jungle, dark and clouded skies threatening an early nightfall, though it was barely into evening. These were usually the first signs to start seeking shelter, a dry spot to tuck away before the rains came.

But Hinata had learned the jungle well, now, nearly a year into his stay. Instead of trying to find a place to hide until the worst of the storm had passed him by, he was busy making friends.

"This is amazing, though!" he said excitedly, to nobody in particular. Though perhaps, he thought, the little white and gray monkey that had climbed onto his shoulder was listening, more intently than Tobio, at any rate. Several more scampered around him in the thinner branches of the trees, where he and Tobio were sitting on a branch large enough to support their weight.

Despite the extreme unpredictability Tobio's presence had lent to his role in the expedition, Hinata had still managed to keep up with semi-regular check ins throughout the months. Given that the majority of his time was spent in the treetops amongst the very animals he was interested in studying, his research and findings had managed to stay ahead of the rest. It was another thing he'd miss greatly, this connection to life in the jungle.

The monkey chittered something at Hinata, and he cocked his head.

"It's really as if they recognize me, don't you think?"

Tobio, who had been watching the skies, shot him a look. "You're recognizable."

"Well, maybe," Hinata conceded. "But that doesn't give them a reason to be so friendly. I wonder…"

He shuffled a little closer along the tree branch to Tobio, who glanced at him with a frown.

"I don't like them," he said, annoyed.

"That doesn't mean they don't like you," Hinata said. The monkey had climbed behind him, clinging to his back, hiding from Tobio. "Maybe… they're trying to get on your good side through me."

Tobio made a face. "Won't work."

"You haven't even given them a chance," Hinata said reproachfully.

"I've given—" Tobio looked outraged and Hinata struggled to keep a straight face. "Years of chances! They're loud. They take my food! They pull my—" He swung suddenly around to face one of the littlest creatures, a baby in the branches behind him as it reached curiously out for his long hair. It froze when he caught sight of it. _"No,_ " he told it sternly, and it scampered away again.

He glared as Hinata laughed openly at him. "They really are amazed by you," he said.

"Stupid," Tobio scoffed.

"Oh, is that why you call me that all the time?" Hinata teased. Tobio looked at him in confusion, and he continued. "Because you amaze me, too?"

He grinned triumphantly as Tobio's mouth fell open. He looked away from Hinata, face turning red, and Hinata beamed, curling his hands into fists at his knees. He loved that Tobio could understand the nuances in speaking enough, now, to be embarrassed by them.

 _"You_ are stupid be-because—" Tobio spluttered, "you've been paying attention to _them_ all day, and it's almost night already, and it is going to rain, and we—"

"Are you," Hinata cut him off, "jealous? Of the monkeys?"

Before Tobio could reply, a rumble of thunder pulled their attention upward. The monkeys in the tree hooted and fled, to escape the rain and take shelter for the night. Water had already begun to fall before they had all gone, and Hinata closed his eyes as the first fat drops splashed on his upturned face.

"Hinata," he heard Tobio say, and he opened his eyes as Tobio leaned in to kiss him.

There were aspects of the jungle that, as much as he'd studied and fantasized and anticipated, Hinata never could have expected. Of course there were, because in all his often wild imaginings, he never could have thought up the idea of Tobio, or what Tobio meant to him.

But now, here they were. And the moss that draped over the tree branch was soft and cool on his back, when Tobio pressed him down into it, with hands that were warm and firm. And the drumming of water on intertwined branches was as loud as Tobio was quiet, when he breathed Hinata's name. And the raindrops that soaked them both, running over Hinata's fingertips where they pressed into Tobio's skin, dripping in a slow, steady trickle from Tobio's lips and onto Hinata's tongue when Tobio opened Hinata's mouth with his own—those were the things Hinata had never expected, the ways the jungle welcomed those who called it theirs.

"I'm not jealous," Tobio told him, between kisses that tasted like fresh rain. "You don't love them."

 _Ah,_ Hinata thought, with a smile he couldn't contain, even when his mouth was otherwise occupied. He slid his arms around Tobio's neck, squirming and laughing as Tobio kissed the rain off his throat, his shoulder, his neck. "No, I don't," Hinata agreed.

"Think we should go back," Tobio said in his ear. "Need lubricant."

"Oh, _that's_ why you've been in a bad mood," Hinata said, grinning.

"No," Tobio said, "I just thought about it."

"Sure, sure."

"You look nice," Tobio insisted. "When it rains."

Hinata looked up at him, curiously. "Really?"

"Mmm." Tobio nodded. "You sound nice, too. And," he added, brushing Hinata's lips with his thumb, leaning close, "you feel the best. When it's raining."

"It always rains in the jungle," Hinata pointed out.

"Yes," Tobio agreed, and kissed him again.

They could even just stay here, Hinata thought. Drenched and what felt like miles above the ground, until they'd satisfied each other, long and slow.

But then he heard the roar.

At first, he thought it was just another echo of thunder, but it came again—deep and throaty, bursting through the trees, somewhere in the distance.

Hinata pulled away from Tobio, glancing out over the jungle. "Do you hear that?"

Tobio's brow furrowed, but when the roar sounded a third time, he snapped his gaze in the direction of the noise, eyes narrowing.

"Jaguar," he said. "We're safe up here."

"I know," Hinata said, "but…" The beast's cry was setting his teeth on edge for some reason. "It sounds… wrong."

Tobio scoffed. "It's too close to _my_ part of the jungle," he said, thumping his chest with his palm. "That's what's wrong."

"Maybe we should go see what it's doing," Hinata said. "We can stay high up."

"Don't care right now," Tobio muttered, leaning closer to mouth softly at Hinata's shoulder.

But something wouldn't let Hinata ignore it that easily. He slid out from under a bewildered Tobio, pulling himself to his feet, grabbing onto one of the smaller branches to steady himself.

"I'm going to look," Hinata said, staring through the dark and the rain. "Come with me, if you want."

"Don't," Tobio said, as Hinata took a few steps backwards toward the trunk of the tree, to give himself room.

But Hinata was already running, leaping straight from the branch toward the vines he could barely see, yet knew were there.

The rain made using the vines to swing much more dangerous. At first, Hinata had been unable to manage it, but gradually, always with Tobio close at hand, to catch him if he fell, he'd learned how to travel safely, the split second way of twisting the vine around his hand just enough that he didn't slip, but not so much that he couldn't release his hold to grab onto the next. He could rival Tobio for speed, now, and the other man had no choice but to keep up.

They reached the source of the roaring quickly even in the downpour. Hinata stopped, hearing the sound coming from right below him, but when he looked down he could see nothing.

Tobio swung up next to him, landing crouched on the branch. Wordlessly, he pointed, and Hinata followed the line of his arm with his eyes, to see that one of the large tree branches was splintered and missing.

"Do you think it's been crushed?" he asked Tobio.

"Maybe," Tobio said. "It's not our problem. Let's go home."

Hinata bit his lip. He knew it wasn't his problem, knew it was even less Tobio's, who'd spent much of his life trying to survive against the deadly jungle cats, until he proved himself strong enough for them to leave him alone. There was no love lost there.

But if one of them really had been crushed by a falling branch, Hinata didn't want to leave it to a slow death, either. They weren't evil, nothing that had been born to the jungle was. They were all just trying to survive.

He glanced at Tobio, who was watching him intently.

"Hinata," Tobio said, sensing what he was going to do.

"Just to look," Hinata told him, reaching out to take one of the long vines, though not to swing.

"Hinata, it's dangerous—"

His voice grew fainter, as Hinata slid down the vine, finding it difficult to slow his descent due to the slippery texture left by the rain. He landed on one of the lowest gnarled branches, only a few feet above the jungle floor, and realized why he couldn't see the jaguar from higher up.

It was one of the black panthers, blending into the many shadows on the ground. It either hadn't noticed him, or didn't care. It paced back and forth endlessly in front of a fallen log—the broken tree branch, Hinata realized. And then, as he looked closer, he saw it.

There was a tiny jaguar cub, its tail trapped underneath the branch, unable to get free.

Tobio had joined him now, and as soon as he set foot on the low branch, the jaguar turned it's yellow eyes upward, fangs bared. Tobio snarled back.

"There," he said to Hinata, "that's why it screams. We can go now."

"Wait, wait—" Hinata pointed. "Did you see? The cub—"

"What about it?" Tobio asked.

"It's stuck!" Hinata said. "It'll die!"

"So?" Tobio asked.

Hinata gaped at him. "It's just a baby."

Tobio looked down at the cat and her cub. "When I was a boy. Small. She tried to kill me. Many, many times. She was the one who gave me these." He pointed at the scars on his stomach. Then he pointed to his eye. "I gave her one, here. She let me go."

"She doesn't know any better," Hinata said.

"No one helped me," Tobio replied. "Her cub will grow, just like her. Or it will die here. That's how the jungle works."

"I'm not from the jungle," Hinata said.

Tobio's dark expression lightened, slightly. "You _do_ belong," he said. "You know that."

"I want to, more than anything," Hinata said. "That's why I can't let the cub die."

Tobio kept his gaze trained on Hinata, a long, searching glance, before he looked back down at the jaguars. "She won't let you get close. She'll kill you."

Jaguars were fiercely protective of their cubs, Hinata knew. Even without one to watch over, the mother was a particularly aggressive animal.

"That's… where I need your help," he told Tobio.

He expected Tobio to reject the notion, then, maybe leave him sitting in the tree if Hinata wouldn't come back with him.

But Tobio reached out, and pushed Hinata's wet hair out of his eyes, cupping Hinata's face in his palm.

"Tell me what to do," he said.

What Hinata needed Tobio to do was far more dangerous than what his own role would be. There was no way they could swap, and the cub could not be approached until its mother was restrained. But as he explained what he needed, he realized…

"It's too dangerous," Hinata said. "Maybe… maybe we can come back later, once she's left it…"

"She won't," Tobio said. "Not until it dies. If you want to save it, I will do what you asked."

"I don't—" Hinata swallowed. "Not if you might get hurt."

"I won't," Tobio said. "You stopped me from killing her before. Then you took care of me. Now you save the baby." He shook his head fondly. "Hinata likes helping. So, I will help him."

Hinata pulled him closer to kiss him once, fiercely. "Thank you."

Tobio reached out, and grabbed one of the long vines hanging from the canopy. "Work fast," he said, and jumped.

Hinata watched, heart in his mouth, as Tobio dropped, swinging down, down. And then, before the jaguar could realize what was happening, he had leapt from the vine, and it let out a screaming bellow of rage as he caught it around its thick neck, landing heavily across its back. They rolled in the mud, and Hinata saw its claws flash.

But Tobio had the upper hand. Hinata could see the muscles of his arms bulge as he used all of his strength, fighting it down into the mud, not to injure it, but to subdue it. It had barely any room to struggle as he forced its head and body down into the ground. Massive as it was, he had managed to restrain it.

"Now, Hinata!" he shouted up into the tree, and Hinata jumped, to join him on the ground.

Up close, he could see that the tiny cub had gotten lucky—only the end of its tail had been caught, and while that must be painful, it would survive if he could free it. It mewled at him, a high pitched cry of fear.

"It's okay," Hinata cooed, testing his strength against the log. It was heavy, but he felt it shift, ever so slightly. "You're fine, mom's fine." He strained, groaning, feet slipping in the mud. "We're—here to—help!"

With an enormous shove, he felt the fallen branch dislodge from the sticky muck, sliding over the ground. He nearly slipped as it moved, but managed to catch himself just in time, and when he righted himself, he saw triumphantly that the cub was free. But now it sat unmoving, shivering in the mud.

"Hinata!" Tobio called, and Hinata glanced back to see he still had the jaguar pinned, though it was struggling. It let out another loud roar and the cub's head wobbled around to face it.

"Okay!" Hinata yelled to him. The cub was in shock, or stiff from being trapped for too long. Hinata bent down next to it, gently nudging its hindquarters. When it didn't move or lash out, he picked it up slowly. It weighed about as much as a small housecat. "Okay, let's go back to mom."

He moved slow, the cub held carefully in front of him. The mother thrashed in the mud, yellow eyes glaring furiously at Hinata with her cub in his arms. But try as she might, she couldn't budge Tobio, though his muscles were straining with the effort. He bore down on her, watching Hinata approach, blue eyes locked on Hinata's own.

"Come, Hinata," he said, "I won't let her hurt you."

Hinata nodded, and continued walking, step by step, towards the snarling beast. When he reached them, he knelt in front of them, and put the cub right in front of its mother. On shaky legs, the cub closed the distance, and then touched its nose to its mother's. Hinata could see her calming, if only slightly, at realizing the cub was safe.

"Get behind me," Tobio said quietly. "Far."

This might be even more dangerous than capturing the jaguar in the first place. If she turned on them, Tobio would have to be ready to fight her. Hinata backed away to a respectable distance. Enough to run, if he had to; but also enough to help Tobio if things got too much for the other man to handle. This, they had not discussed—but Hinata had already made up his mind not to run, after Tobio had willingly done this for him.

Without warning, Tobio released her. He sprang back and away and the jaguar leapt from the mud, whirling to face him, ready to pounce. Tobio crouched, at the ready, placing himself squarely in between her and Hinata, and Hinata balled his hands into fists, so hard he could feel his blunt nails bite into his palms.

Then the angry lines of the jaguar's shoulders relaxed. The cub rubbed its head against her side, and as though she had forgotten Hinata and Tobio were there, she turned, without a backwards glance. A dismissal, or maybe, a truce, as she prowled back into the trees like the entire encounter had never happened.

Tobio straightened, and reached up to sweep his dark, disheveled hair out of his face, and Hinata could see the expression on his face as he stared after the jaguar. It wasn't angry or irritable or even exhausted. Instead, it was soft, and satisfied.

_"Tobio."_

Hinata spoke without realizing or meaning to, and Tobio turned toward him, eyes widening slightly as Hinata launched himself at him, grabbing desperately at Tobio's face to tug him into a kiss.

"What is it, what's—"

"I can't believe you did that," Hinata whispered, shocked. He could feel his legs shaking. "Why would you—why did you do that? How could I ask you to—"

"Because," Tobio said, "you wanted to do something good. And you needed me."

Hinata nodded. He couldn't stop seeing it; Tobio, eyes fearless as they watched him, even while the ink black jungle cat lay writhing and trapped beneath him.

"I needed you," Hinata said. He ran his hands over Tobio's broad shoulders, down his strong arms, chasing raindrops with his fingers. Tobio was never afraid. Except when he thought Hinata didn't need him. "I need you, now."

Tobio exhaled slowly, rolling his forehead over Hinata's. "Let's go back."

"Mmm, Tobio, ta—take me back," Hinata mumbled, pushing onto his toes, trying to kiss the other man. "Take—me, I need—"

"Me," Tobio said, picking him easily up off the ground with one arm, like Hinata weighed nothing to him.

"Yes," Hinata whimpered, clinging.

"Tell me," Tobio said, as he brought Hinata home.

"I don't want to feel anything but you."

When they got back, Tobio laid him down on the bed and climbed over him, lips kissing, tongue lapping the rain from his skin. He moved slowly, thoughtfully, eyes flickering to catch Hinata's every few seconds. Hinata breathed along with his touch—in, when Tobio dipped his mouth to his body, out when he raised his head to gaze at Hinata underneath him. And when Tobio had reached high enough, so that he could move his lips over Hinata's jaw and cheek and finally let his breath whisper across Hinata's ear, he said,

"Turn over. Onto your stomach."

Hinata rolled over beneath him without a word, and Tobio lowered himself, until the hot, rain soaked length of his whole body pressed Hinata's into the soft fur beneath them, and Hinata couldn't have moved even if he'd wanted to, couldn't do anything but moan for him, when Tobio slid a hand between his thighs.

"Please," Hinata begged him, even though he knew Tobio would never, ever leave him wanting. Tobio's fingers were wet already, slick with oil, and Hinata scrabbled his hands in the fur and breathed his name, until he felt Tobio push one inside him. _"Tobio—"_

"Ah," Tobio murmured, voice thick and heavy and warm. "Tight."

It was overwhelmingly intense, being unable to shift an inch, as Tobio fucked him open on his fingers, pinning him easily. It was perfect, nearly perfect, but as firmly as he held Hinata in place, he was still holding back.

"H-harder," Hinata panted, rubbing his cheek against the furs, "Need more—"

"Can't," Tobio said. "Would be too much for you."

"It won't, it _won't—"_

"Hinata," Tobio said, urgently, "I have to be gentle."

 _"No,_ " Hinata sobbed, writhing under him when the insistent press of his fingers slowed. "No, not this time."

"Don't… understand," Tobio said. "I thought…"

"Sometimes," Hinata had to force the words out of himself. He tried to move, to rut his hips back over Tobio's fingers, but it was impossible. Tobio wasn't letting him, and even that was driving him wild. "Sometimes you can be rough. I _want_ you to be."

"I don't want you to—"

"I _need_ you to be," Hinata pleaded, voice cracking. He could feel Tobio breathing, just breathing, against his back. "Tobio, _please,_ give me what I _need—"_

He cried out, high and sharp, as Tobio drove his fingers back inside him.

"I will," Tobio promised. "I w-will—because—I wanted—"

He _wanted_ to take Hinata, wreck him entirely, Hinata knew he did. He still remembered the first time Tobio had ever tried anything, without understanding—the hands, fingers pressing tight against his throat, and pulling at his hair, Tobio grinding against him heavy and unrelenting. And now, Tobio stretching him wide on his fingers, rubbing hard inside him.

"I—" Hinata moaned, "Tobio, I'll—c-come—"

"Not stopping," Tobio said, breath huffing hot over Hinata's ear.

"I d-don't want to," Hinata told him, "I don't want to come… without you inside me—"

"Then—" Tobio growled, "you have to be ready, now."

He pulled his fingers out of Hinata, and then finally, finally gave him space to move.

Hinata whimpered. "Okay."

Tobio grabbed him, fingers steady and hard at his waist as he dragged Hinata up off the floor, onto his knees and elbows with his ass in the air, trembling and waiting. Tobio mouthed warm and wet at the back of Hinata's neck and shoulders, fingers playing at his entrance, dipping back inside Hinata before drawing out again, and Hinata moaned. He watched, blearily, over his shoulder, as Tobio drew a hand slowly over his cock, slicking it with oil from tip to base, until it was red and glistening.

"Please," Hinata said again, lips catching against his own damp skin, words mumbled, "please, be in me. Tobio…"

He stared with glassy eyes as Tobio leaned over him, rolled his head on his neck so Tobio could kiss him slow and hungry. "Yes, Hinata," he murmured. "Here—take me—"

Hinata let his eyes roll back in his head as Tobio rubbed the head of his cock against his rim, before he slid his hand low on Hinata's belly and pushed inside him, inch by inch, filling Hinata heavy and thick, opening him where Tobio's fingers hadn't quite done the work yet. The slow burn was everything, everything Hinata could feel. This was his favorite way to be stretched, adjusting a little bit at a time around Tobio.

"Okay?" Tobio whispered.

Hinata whined and nodded. "Move… m-move."

"Gentle?"

Hinata shook his head. "No."

Tobio slid his hands to his hips, and gripped tight. "Then I won't be."

He dragged himself out of Hinata's body, leaving him suddenly empty. Hinata gasped, hating the lack of him—but the next second, he couldn't stop himself from crying out, as Tobio snapped his hips forward, driving back into him, sending his upper body sliding against the furs. He pulled out again, nearly all the way, before slamming into Hinata, and from there, his thrusts turned brutal, bruising, as he yanked Hinata's hips back flush to his with his large, strong hands. The sound of their flesh meeting, skin slapping on skin, was nearly louder than the rain, and Hinata's cries were struggling to top even that.

 _"Y-yes, yes, yes—_ " Hinata sobbed. Every movement sent a shudder jolting up his body. His thighs and arms were shaking, and his stomach felt tight and burning already, at the way he could feel Tobio sliding inside him with every devastating rock of his hips. It was the hardest Tobio had ever fucked him, fast enough to stun the breath out of him. "Harder—m-more—"

Tobio growled, dropping down to his hands over Hinata, arms caging him in on either side. His lips and tongue traced over the bumps at the top of Hinata's spine, teeth grazing the back of his neck. "Won't—scare you?"

"You can't," Hinata told him. _"I trust you."_

His breath stuck in his throat as Tobio bent low against him, pressing him into the floor so he once more couldn't move. But Tobio rolled his hips against Hinata, an unending, steady, grinding pressure inside him, and Hinata couldn't breathe, and could barely make a sound, and so his only option was to stay, trapped and helpless and surrendered to the feeling, as Tobio had his way at last.

"In—inside you—" Tobio panted, "it's— _haah—_ good like this—"

It felt good _everywhere_. Tobio ran his hands over Hinata's body, palms dragging over his sides, his chest, over his stomach. He slid his fingers finally between Hinata's legs, trailing over his balls and then around his cock, and Hinata let out a high, strained keening, gasping for air.

"I like coming in you," Tobio whispered suddenly, as though he was spilling secrets. "I—like when I—can s-see it after. When you're—w-wet and full of me—"

"Oh, god, _fuck—_ " Hinata gasped. He hadn't known Tobio thought about things like that, that he even _noticed._

"I want to—" Tobio groaned, "I want to come in you. Want you to come with me." He twisted his fingers around Hinata's cock, working the head with his palm, and Hinata jolted underneath him. God, he'd learned quickly, and so well.

"I'm close," Hinata said, "I'm so close—you feel so good in me—"

"Let me come?" Tobio pleaded, as he worked his hips against Hinata in a maddening circle, hand tugging over the tip of Hinata's cock. "C-come with me—"

"I—yes—" Hinata moaned. "Ah, Tobio— _Tobio—_ I can't hold on—"

Tobio pressed his face into Hinata's back as his hips rolled, and he spilled himself, buried in Hinata, one arm wrapped tight around Hinata's chest as his other hand moved over Hinata's cock. And then Hinata, too, was coming with a soft cry, face shoved into the furs, wetting them with his saliva. Tobio pulled out of him almost too quickly—but then Hinata felt him spreading his cheeks apart gently, and his face began to burn.

"Good," Tobio murmured, voice low and deep, lips pressing briefly against the swell of Hinata's ass, as Hinata felt wet warmth trailing from his entrance. Tobio slid his fingers through the mess, rubbing over Hinata's sensitive rim, and Hinata whined and hid his face. Tobio whispered against his skin, "Shy."

"Come up here," Hinata said, somewhat petulantly, feeling hot and pleasantly embarrassed. Tobio complied, lips trailing up his back, until he was high enough to pull Hinata onto his side, back against his chest.

"Still want to stay forever," Tobio said softly.

"In me?" Hinata asked, threading his fingers through the other man's with a small smile.

"No," Tobio said. "Just with you."

Hinata stilled against him. He wanted that too, more than anything. But…

Tobio sensed his hesitation and buried his face in Hinata's hair reassuringly. "I'm happy. Whether you're here, or not here—you're with me, now. You love me."

"I do," Hinata told him. "I always will."

"Then I'll always be happy," Tobio said.

He folded Hinata tightly in his arms, and Hinata let his eyes drift closed.

Tobio did not want to know when Hinata was leaving. His frustration with being reminded of the fact had morphed into a conviction: enjoy what time they did have, stop worrying about the inevitable. This had only made the thought more miserable for Hinata, but now, he thought he might understand.

Leaving no longer meant to Tobio that Hinata was angry, or upset, or didn't care about him. It meant nothing, in the grand scheme of things, because the time they had together meant everything.

He would know Hinata hadn't left him for lack of loving him.

*

"So _that's_ where he's been hiding you…"

Hinata couldn't help but grin. He was dangling upside down from one of the huge tree branches that formed part of the base of the treehouse. Easily, he flipped himself upright, pulling himself along on the branch on his stomach, until he was right underneath the rough planks of the floorboard branches. Bundled up and wedged in place where they couldn't be seen were all his missing clothes.

He pulled them free and tucked them under his arm as he shimmied back, hopped from the branch to a hanging vine, and climbed back in through one of the windows. He had just begun stuffing his clothes back into his pack, when a voice behind him made him jump, and whirl around.

"You found them."

"Hi!" Hinata said. Tobio, who had been gone when Hinata woke, had returned to the treehouse. Hinata looked at the clothes he had in hand. "I, um—yes. I realized that I needed them for…"

He needed to be wearing something more than a loincloth, the next time he returned to camp. That was just a short time away; it would also mark the last time he returned. The plane that would take the expedition members back out of the jungle would be arriving for them in a few weeks. That flight would deposit them at a regional airport, and it was for this reason that Hinata would need an actual set of clothes.

It was difficult to imagine that just one short trip through the sky would bring him so far from that place—away from the jungle and the trees and back to a land of bright lights and convenience. And, quite decisively, less revealing clothing.

Tobio was looking at him expectantly, and Hinata cleared his throat. "I thought I'd left something in one of the pockets," he said.

Tobio hummed. He came to sit next to Hinata on the floor, arranging himself with his legs crossed. Hinata watched as he pulled at one of the shirts, spreading it out over his lap. He stroked his long fingers over it, but whatever thoughts he had fallen into, Hinata couldn't guess.

"Did you find it?" he finally asked.

"Find… oh!" Hinata looked at the crumpled pair of pants he'd been folding. "No, I… I guess I was wrong."

Tobio's mouth quirked. "Not that?" he asked, and pointed.

Sticking out of one of the pockets was a small pencil, sharpened many times, almost down to a nub. Hinata plucked the convenient excuse from the folds of cloth.

"Yeah…" he said. "Yes, I was looking for this!"

"You want to draw?" Tobio asked.

The answer to that question, Hinata realized, was also yes. "How long can you stay still?" he asked of Tobio, though he knew Tobio wouldn't move as long as Hinata needed him to stay motionless. He handed Tobio the pencil as he got to his feet to search around the treehouse. His things were still strewn somewhat haphazardly about, and when he found his notebook, it was to discover that he'd filled its pages entirely. He frowned.

"Hinata," Tobio said to get his attention. He turned, to see that Tobio was holding one of their books out to him— _Pride and Prejudice._ Near the back were one or two blank pages, and though they were a bit cramped, they would have to do. Hinata took the book from him and settled down with his pencil, knees touching Tobio's. But before he could start sketching, Tobio said, "Sit here."

He patted his legs, and Hinata grinned. "How am I supposed to sketch you, then?"

"Don't look," Tobio told him. He tugged Hinata forward into his lap, until Hinata had settled with his back against his warm chest. Tobio rested his chin on top of his head. "Can you remember me?"

Hinata blinked. Without speaking, he put out his hand, and Tobio placed the pencil on his palm, curling his fingers around it.

Of course. Of course he could remember.

The pencil had no eraser. Hinata worked slowly, tongue poking between his lips, mindful of the fact that if he made a mistake, he couldn't undo it. Each stroke was labored and small. But after a time, Tobio's dark eyes and proud nose and strong jaw had emerged on the page, just as they had when Hinata had first drawn them, a year ago. Except now, he didn't need to look at the face they belonged to in order to portray it. He knew it too well.

"What do you think?" he asked. He tilted his head. The sketch seemed complete, with Tobio's black hair tucked behind his ear and curling over his shoulders, expression serious and focused where he gazed straight off the page. Hinata frowned. It _was_ complete, but still felt lacking.

"Looks fine," Tobio said.

Hinata tilted his head back against his chest to look up at him. "All you have to say is 'fine'?" he asked, jokingly indignant.

Tobio plucked the book from his grasp. "No," he said. Hinata twisted around to snatch for it, but his hands ended up landing in Tobio's hair, eventually, when the other man leaned down to kiss him instead. "Don't lose it," he murmured.

Hinata curled his fingers into his hair. "I won't," he said.

This picture he would keep. But, like the old photographs in the corner of the treehouse, and the carved elephant that kept them secure, Hinata wanted to leave something of himself behind, as well. For Tobio to remember.

Time was dwindling. But for every one sunset that took them closer to Hinata's departure, it brought a new day for Hinata to fall, heart dropping down into his stomach or jumping into his throat, as he loved Tobio more and more. That was what he wanted the memory to be.

It started to take shape a little bit at a time. In the very few hours he spent not wrapped up in Tobio's presence, Hinata worked on it, knowing it would never be perfect and that that was alright. The drawing was sketched on a torn scrap of paper from the inside of a book; drawn sometimes by moonlight, or the early rays of the sun in the morning as Hinata squinted at the page and hoped for no mistakes; shielded from rain and occasional river water splashes, when Tobio and Zou played around a little too rowdily.

Those days of making do with what he had; of lights shining only when there was a break in the clouds; of warm sunlight and cool jungle streams—they were rapidly coming to an end.

He knew Tobio must suspect, from the way Hinata sometimes caught him looking. But he didn't ask, true to his word, and Hinata didn't tell him. He was curious, too, about the art Hinata would not reveal, hugging the sketchbook to his chest every time Tobio tried to look. But then he would ruffle Hinata's hair, and beckon him into the heights of the trees, and Hinata would stow the sketchbook safely away and follow.

But the day arrived when it was time, finally, to come down.

Hinata didn't sleep, that night. He watched, instead, the way Tobio breathed in his sleep. Slow and measured, pale scars on his chest rising and falling. Hinata brushed them with his fingers and didn't cry, because it would wake Tobio.

When the morning came, soft and grey with a misty rain, Hinata slipped away. The kisses he pressed to Tobio's face, along his forehead and cheeks and lips, were light enough not to wake him. The goodbye was quiet enough to lull him back to sleep, when his brow wrinkled just slightly, as Hinata eased out of his arms.

In his place, he left the finished sketch he'd been working on, pulling it from its hiding spot in his pack to place it where Tobio was sure to see it—under the wooden elephant with all his other mementos, safe and sound.

"Look out for him, Zou," Hinata murmured, pausing at the window to look back at Tobio's sleeping face again.

And then he was gone, away from the treehouse, to return to where he'd come from, though it couldn't feel farther from home.

*

No one seemed all that surprised to see Hinata when he turned up at camp. He had gotten there early enough to pack his things and clear up his tent; there wasn't much mess, after his year spent almost entirely absent. His colleagues seemed mostly excited to learn what new research he'd collected, and to finally be going home once more. Everyone on the team shared a love for their environment, or they wouldn't be on the expedition in the first place, but the general consensus seemed to be that it was finally time to bid the jungle farewell.

Hinata wished he could say the same.

He wished, because now, watching the camp clear, and the tents get packed away, leaving nothing but a quiet, grassy expanse on the edge of the overgrown trees, his heart was aching.

A loud droning announced the arrival of the small plane. As the rest of the team members started to shuffle towards the part of the clearing where it would land, Hinata stared at the sky.

"Hinata?"

Hinata turned, to see Daichi walking towards him. The older man had a strange look on his face. Not surprise, but confusion, Hinata realized.

"You weren't expecting me to show up?" Hinata asked, trying to smile.

"No, I just…" Daichi shook his head. "I'm glad you made it on time. Do you, uh… need a hand with any of that?" He was referring to the mess Hinata was balancing in his arms, along with the suitcase and backpack he was trying to tote along. Hinata's packing skills were subpar, truth be told.

"I'm good!" Hinata said, falsely bright, and Daichi cast him a searching glance.

"Are you?"

"Y-yeah." Hinata bit his lip. "I mean, this was always—it's not like—" He stopped, and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "We knew. We both did."

"You did," Daichi agreed.

"What about you?" Hinata asked, somewhat desperately. "How are you doing?"

"Kind of can't believe it's over," Daichi admitted, and Hinata nodded. "I'll miss just being here. But I'm looking forward to getting back to civilization, too."

Hinata hummed. Civilization sounded nice, in theory. Microwaves, and hot showers, and recorded television. He could probably get a start on publishing his research in some of the more well-known anthropology magazines. Maybe a few short-term teaching gigs, guest speaker opportunities. It would be like that for awhile, more desk work and less out in the field. The same as his life had been before the expedition. Things he loved, but never fully got to enjoy, because he was removed from the source. The jungle had eliminated that distance for the first time.

"Mostly, it'll be nice to be home with my partner again," Daichi said, voice contemplative.

Hinata stopped dead in his tracks. He hadn't known Daichi was married.

Was it really so strange, then? It made sense, that everyone else felt a pull back to where they had come from, to familiarity and comfort, while Hinata pushed in the other direction, further into this place, that felt most familiar to him, like he'd always known it. Like it had just been waiting for him to come back.

"Your family must be waiting to see you, I'd imagine," Daichi said, not noticing Hinata had fallen behind.

"No," Hinata said, faintly. "I don't… I don't have…"

Daichi turned to look at him. "Hinata? Are you alright?"

What was waiting for him in the city? A small empty house and a few chain email threads and the editor of _The International Journal of Anthropology._ What mattered to him, back home? More importantly, what mattered most to him, at all?

One of the other researchers knocked into him accidentally, and Hinata stumbled, a few items falling loose from his arms. He waved off the man's apologies, bending to pick up his things, and there, lying on the ground, was his notebook. It had fallen open to his very first drawing: Tobio, staring and curious, mouth a serious line.

And he realized.

"I know what's missing," he murmured. He picked up the notebook, staring at it.

"What?" Daichi asked.

"I know what I…" Hinata looked up at Daichi. "This is going to sound crazy, but, I can't. I can't get on that plane."

"Uh, yes," Daichi said slowly, "that sounds crazy."

"That's not my place anymore," Hinata insisted. "And I'm not going back."

Daichi ran an agitated hand through his hair. "Hinata. I can't force you to get on this flight. But—"

"Someone's waiting for me _here,"_ Hinata told him. He watched nervously as Daichi dragged a hand over his face.

"This is not what I signed up for," the expedition leader muttered. "Alright, look. I have to admit, even I was a little surprised to see you here. So… if this is something you feel like you have to—"

"It is," Hinata said instantly.

"Okay, okay," Daichi relented. "Then, take this. Be careful with it." He unclipped something from his belt—a small radio, powered by a hand crank.

"What's this for?" Hinata asked, taking it from him.

"Just… in case," Daichi said. "I don't know if I'll be part of the team they send after the three year period is up, but either way—"

"What three year period?"

Daichi shot Hinata an odd glance. "The next expedition can't come out here for three years. Regulation, training, and all that."

Hinata looked at him blankly. "They're sending another expedition?"

"You didn't even know that?" Daichi asked, shocked. "You are _really_ set on staying out here, aren't you?"

"Yes," Hinata said, and then realized exactly what he'd just made up his mind to do. He hugged the notebook to his chest and beamed at Daichi. _"Yes_ , I really am."

*

The jungle was an incredible blur of green as Hinata raced back through it. He had left without a word to anyone but Daichi, stowed his things just inside the treeline—he would have to come back for them later, but there was no time to transport them now. He had no time for anything, except getting back to Tobio.

But the treehouse was empty when he returned. Still riding high on excitement, he went immediately to the river, and found Zou, but no one else. He searched, from high in the tops of the trees, to low, taking the jungle paths on foot, the same ones where the moss and leaves had been trodden many times over, familiar and safe.

And "safe" made him remember one more place he hadn't looked.

He could scale the towering tree on his own now, climbing up it as swiftly as any monkey. This tree had a hollow, sunken into its enormous trunk, and when he reached it, it turned out to be the right place, after all.

"I can't decide," Hinata said, as he pulled himself up into the hollow, surprising one very unsuspecting wild man nearly out of his skin, "if this is the best hiding spot, or the worst one. It took me _forever_ to find you."

Tobio, who had scrambled away from the opening of the hollow like a frightened cat at the sound of his voice, blinked rapidly at him, and then sputtered, "Hinata?!"

"You sound surprised," Hinata said.

And then he was laughing, laughing as Tobio scrambled toward him, flung himself forward so he could hold Hinata against him, arms squeezing so tight Hinata could barely breathe.  

"You left," Tobio said, stunned. "You were gone and I thought you—I was wrong? Was it not today?"

"It is," Hinata said. He pressed his face against Tobio's neck, breathing in his familiar scent. "It was."

"Then you… came to say…" Tobio got that far, before his voice broke off. Hinata realized he was trembling.

"Tobio—"

"I can't," Tobio whispered. "Hinata—it _hurts_ too much—"

"I'm not," Hinata said firmly, "leaving." He shifted to grab Tobio's face between his hands. "I'm not going anywhere. Not anymore."

Tobio, through squashed cheeks, asked, "What?"

"I know what was wrong," Hinata said. "When I sketched you, I felt like something was wrong and I realized—I should have—you should have been smiling. You should have been _happy."_

"It was…" Tobio shook his head, not understanding. "It was only a drawing."

"No. That's how I should have thought of you. That's how I _want_ to think of you," Hinata said. "I can't get something like that wrong and then just… leave."

"Then… it's true?" Tobio asked. "How long does this mean we can be together?"

"A long time," Hinata said. "I think it means forever."

Tobio stared at him, silently, and Hinata nodded in delirious joy as Tobio reached out to touch his face, like he was still trying to convince himself this new circumstance was real. He brushed his fingers over Hinata's forehead, his nose, his cheeks, and finally, his lips, and Hinata kissed his fingertips, and watched him begin to understand.

"Why did you _ever_ say it would be fine if I left?" Hinata asked him, accusingly. He felt almost incensed.It wouldn't have been fine. Tobio _needed_ him. "Lying is bad, Tobio."

"I… didn't know," Tobio said, after a moment. "Before you found me. I never knew something like you was possible. I didn't know there was—anyone besides me."

"I know," Hinata said, softening with fondness. "I know that."

"When I used to dream," Tobio said, "I would wake up with… a feeling. I didn't understand it."

"What feeling?" Hinata asked.

"There was no one," Tobio said. "No one there, only me. Always."

"Oh. That's…" Hinata felt his voice threatening to choke inside his throat. "That's loneliness, Tobio. You were lonely."

"Lonely…" Tobio said softly. "I never knew what it was. But then you came and left, and I learned. Because I never felt it, when you were with me."

Hinata swallowed, throat burning, eyes hot. But instead of Tobio's words pulling his heart apart, like they always had in the past, they made it feel like it was being filled. Because he could make Tobio a promise, now, and mean it: "I won't ever let you feel that way again."

"I was alone for a long time." Tobio pressed his forehead to Hinata's. "But now I… can't think about being here, without thinking about you. This place is your place now. Ours."

Hinata nodded. "I like how that sounds."

"I understand," Tobio continued. "I understand what love means now. I know I love you."  

And this time, he wasn't just echoing the words.

Hinata's smile wobbled as he looked at Tobio. He swiped his hand over his eyes. "That's lucky for me. Because I kind of wanted to ask you something."

"What?" Tobio asked softly. He tilted slightly, to lay a kiss against Hinata's cheek.

"Well, given that your good fortune is mine, now…" Hinata ducked his head so he could meet Tobio, their lips barely brushing, and said, "How would you feel about becoming my wife?"

Tobio pulled back to stare at him, and Hinata began to grin from ear to ear when the other man's wide blue eyes became suspiciously more and more wet, before they finally flowed over, lining his cheeks with tears.

"These are happy," Tobio felt the need to clarify, as Hinata kissed them away.

"So, that's a…" Hinata said.

"Yes," Tobio confirmed, and crying or not, his smile was the happiest Hinata had ever seen it.

It was not altogether surprising, considering he had been the one to ask first.

*

"Hinata! Still?"

Several weeks had passed since the plane back to civilization had departed, leaving Hinata behind in the jungle. He didn't know the exact number of days. He no longer needed to count them.

That afternoon, he had started a project he'd been meaning to complete for quite some time, though he'd found himself all too easily distracted by Tobio as of late. But now, as Tobio floated sleepily on his back in the river, Hinata thought he might be able to seize the opportunity. It would appear he was mistaken.

"You _just_ got in, another few minutes of waiting won't kill you," Hinata said, without looking up from his drawing.

"It might."

Hinata snorted, shaking his head. It was a familiar drawing, once finished though still somehow incomplete. There had been many mistakes in the picture he'd left behind in the treehouse for Tobio the morning he'd almost left, as well. With the sun bright above him, sketching in the open, and an eraser retrieved from the camp in hand, he could now make out all the little tiny corrections he wanted to make, all the details he needed to add. In particular, two main points he'd missed the first time around.

He had drawn them standing on a branch, wide and strong enough to support them, perhaps ready to take the vines off into the distance, or perhaps they'd just arrived. But though being in the world far above the mossy jungle floor made them both so happy, he had forgotten, again, to let that reflect on their faces. He'd been too sad himself before leaving to draw a smile.

But now they did, Hinata holding onto Tobio with his face upturned, eyes closed and laughing. Tobio held his face in one hand with that strange mix of wonder and delight Hinata had come to know so well, that Tobio still managed to hang on to, a year after their first meeting.

And, though it was small—he was smiling, too.

There was one more detail that Hinata could not have foreseen, but he'd added it in now. It was both a small and a large detail, and it took time to sketch, which was why he was not in the river, quite yet.

He held his hand up, squinting against the sun at the small band of palm leaf strips, woven into a ring and wrapped around his finger.

He wanted to get the pattern right. Tobio's had been easy, because Hinata had woven it himself. But Tobio had made the one he wore, and Hinata wanted to make sure it was perfect.

But just as he was finally satisfied, putting the finishing touches on the sketch, he heard Tobio call his name again, louder, this time.

"Hinata!"

"It's done, it's done," Hinata said, "I'll be right—"

"Hinata, don't move," Tobio said, and the way his voice was stretched thin made Hinata look up.

The elephants were further down the riverbank. Tobio swam near Hinata. And now, approaching from the other side was a familiar and unwelcome sight—a great black jaguar, with a scar slashed across one of her eyes.

"Tobio," Hinata whispered, voice soft with fear. Tobio was swimming for the banks already, but the jaguar was close.

"Get back towards the herd," Tobio said, whistling sharply into the air, and from far away, Hinata heard Zou's familiar trumpet call. But it sounded very far indeed.

From behind the jaguar's low-slung form, another, smaller figure loped into view.

It was the cub Hinata had saved. It had already grown, and was no longer very small. Its tail was still bent, and its walk was somewhat ungainly, nothing like the sleek grace of its mother. Hinata watched in confusion as the mother panther sat in the grass, watching with disdainful eyes, and the cub continued forward.

"Wait," Hinata said to Tobio.

"And let them hunt you?" Tobio hissed.

"No," Hinata said. "No, I don't think they are."

Carefully, he laid his drawing tools aside, crouching low in the grass. The cub took a cautious step toward him, then another. At the same time, Tobio pulled himself out of the water, but Hinata put a hand out to stop him coming closer, when the cub paused, ears back.

"You remember me," Hinata said to it, in a low voice.

"It wants to eat you," Tobio muttered.

"I'm pretty sure I can take this one," Hinata said. "Maybe."

Tobio seemed to have calmed the smallest amount, now that he was close enough, and Zou was alerted; even Hinata felt safer, knowing there was a friendly elephant ready to rampage on his behalf at the first sign of danger. He got on his hands and knees, low to the ground, crawling a fraction closer to the jaguar cub.

Encouraged, it moved again. When it got close enough, it stretched its head out, paws frozen in place as though it couldn't bring itself to keep going. Hinata closed his eyes and hummed soothingly, as he felt a cold wet nose press itself against his face, barely there as it bumped his nose and cheeks.

"What is it doing?" Tobio asked.

"I think," Hinata whispered, "it's saying hello."

"Why is _she_ here?" Tobio asked of the cub's mother.

Hinata smiled, sitting up. The cub, seemingly satisfied, sat on its haunches and began to groom itself. "Would you want me to go wandering into their territory alone?"

"No," Tobio admitted grumpily. "Why would you do that?"

Hinata shrugged. "To say hello."

Tobio glared at him, first, then the cub, and finally the mother. She met his eyes with her fierce yellow ones. Hinata looked between them nervously.

But after a moment, she lowered her gaze, looking away.

Tobio blinked in surprise. He looked at Hinata, as though seeking an answer, but Hinata only shrugged, smiling slightly.

"Maybe there _is_ another option, besides running or fighting," Hinata said.

Tobio shook his head. "Not for them."

"But for us," Hinata said, as the cub tumbled over into the grass near him. He plucked a long blade of grass from the ground to tickle its nose, and it batted at it with its large paws. "We're not like them. We're human."

He stayed quiet, watching the cub as Tobio mulled his words over for a long time.

Then he got down into the grass next to Hinata. The cub stopped its playing to focus gold eyes on him, and the mother sat up, uneasily.

But the man, who was wild no longer, yet still not entirely tame, held out his hand to the cub, his movements slow and gentle, and it let him get close enough so that it could press its twitching nose to his fingers.

The trees, and those born to it, were unchanging. But though it was their home, Hinata and Tobio were not quite like this place that called to them. They changed. They learned. For all their differences, their main advantage was what they shared with one another.

They were human.

"Hello," Tobio said to the cub, and Hinata smiled, realizing that wasn't quite right.

Here, in the heart of the jungle, they were more than just human.

They were free.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn  
> You'll find your place beside the ones you love;  
> And all the things you dreamed of, [the visions that you saw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WcHPFUwd6U&list=PL8RWissld6x8T7l6AhLBOgR0zNFKDV420&index=5)  
> The time is drawing near now, it's yours to claim it all
> 
> \--
> 
> RC's final art for chapter 6 can be viewed in full [right here](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/post/159609420544/the-heart-of-the-jungle-chapter-66-by-esselley)!
> 
> The biggest thanks, once again, to my dearest [Ellie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellessey/pseuds/Ellessey) for making sure I made it through the writing of this fic <333
> 
> And to all of you, thank you so, so much for engaging with this story. It was an incredible amount of fun for myself and RC to work on this from beginning to end together, and while we are sad to say goodbye to this world, we're already getting started on the next...! 
> 
> Find us here:  
> [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter  
> [@reallycorking](http://reallycorking.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@reallycorking](https://twitter.com/reallycorking) on Twitter  
>  **Our collab blog is[essiecorking](https://essiecorking.tumblr.com/)!**


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